Our trip to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens in Claremont came at the invitation of my friend Debi at GoExploreNature.com – although she doesn’t admit to being seen with us in her post about it. We met up in the Claremont Village (Yale Street and surroundings) for a bite to eat and then headed off to the gardens to explore. I thought this place would be little and it would take a couple hours. Boy, was I wrong! It’s massive (over 80 acres) and in three hours we only covered the first half, and not fully.
Leave lots of time to explore this “wonderland” because it truly is a beautiful place to wander.
SO many flowers were blooming on our trip at the end of April. The colors were incredible. There were fields of these Purple Irises:
Check out these coral bells!
The bugs were such a great scavenger hunt for the kids. In fact, Debi’s son made up a scavenger hunt with check boxes based on the map. Tooooo cute. My daughter and him led the search.
You’ll see real butterflies, dragonflies, turtles, and birds. Couldn’t believe I caught this little guy on my camera!
Finally, there are shaded paths with oaks and solitude.
You must go visit!
Checklist:
- Official Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens website
- Visit the Claremont Village website to plan a visit to the charming downtown area
- Claremont McKenna College also has a guide to restaurants, cafes, and bakeries
- Read Debi’s post on our trip (her youngest is younger than mine)
- Could get really hot during the summer — bring water
- Definitely bring a stroller for kiddos who get tired feet
- There are bathrooms spread out all along the property
- It only took us about 45 minutes to get there (a perfect day trip)
- We took the 57 to the 10 to get there (Indian Hill Blvd.) – directions and map
- David Rogers’ Big Bugs are only there through July 15th (don’t miss them)
AMAZING colors!
We had such a great time with you guys! Yet another gem of an outdoor play date. Love that photo of our kiddos.