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Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Gainesville

4.5
#3 of 23 in Parks in Gainesville
Garden · Hidden Gem · Nature / Park
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The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (62 acres, 25 hectares) is a botanical garden in Gainesville, Florida, operated by the North Florida Botanical Society. The name for the garden comes from the nearby 250-acre Lake Kanapaha. "Kanapaha" originating from two Timucua words for "palmetto leaves" and "house". The gardens were established in 1978 when the society leased 33 acres (13.4 hectares) for a public botanical garden. Another 29 acres (11.7 hectares) were added in 1982. The gardens opened to the public in 1986.

As of 2005, the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens contain Florida's largest public bamboo gardens and the largest herb garden in the Southeast.
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Kanapaha Botanical Gardens reviews

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TripAdvisor traveler rating
TripAdvisor traveler rating 4.5
472 reviews
Google
4.7
TripAdvisor
  • My wife and I visited the Gardens in early March, 2023. It is a very pleasant, relaxing atmosphere. All of the major walkways are paved so it is easy to walk through these Gardens. Even though it.....  more
    My wife and I visited the Gardens in early March, 2023. It is a very pleasant, relaxing atmosphere. All of the major walkways are paved so it is easy to walk through these Gardens. Even though it.....  more »
  • The gardens were so quiet and serene. I found myself just wandering and listening to the birds. It was so beautiful. The bamboo garden was amazing and the azalias were in full bloom and just... 
    The gardens were so quiet and serene. I found myself just wandering and listening to the birds. It was so beautiful. The bamboo garden was amazing and the azalias were in full bloom and just...  more »
Google
  • $10 entry ticket for adults. Place is really nice, walking there and enjoy the nature will be always a good idea. There’s also a kids playground, kids garden which is good to spend some time with the little ones. You can buy fish food and feed the nice fishes there. Garden close at 5pm and the last entry time is 4:15pm. I like it and if they have students discount I would love to visit it again.
  • This is a great botanical garden to go with the family or your partner. The entrance is $10 per person, we paid with a credit card, parking is free. We brought our own refreshments and snacks from home and it was great. We walked and took great pictures. The sceneries on this gardens are amazing, for weddings,graduations, birthdays I mean, I'll post some pictures and you can judge yourself. It's pet friendly and handicap accessible, there is a small play ground for kids but during the time I went out was so hot I wouldn't recommend the any kids to be in there. There are fish you can feed, the feeders are at the entrance of the botanical garden, you need some quarters for it and then walk the garden until you find the pond. With the heat from Florida during the summer my suggestion go in the afternoon. It took us about 2 hours to walk and take pictures and that's because my teenage girl was hungry and she wanted to leave.

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