Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara

SB Gardens is a serene, peaceful place to walk with some beautiful scenery. I particularly enjoyed the “woodsy” areas. However, it’s not the easiest to navigate. Lots of hills, and when I visited the creek crossings were closed, so I had to double back to cross back to the entrance. I wish the person at the entry had told me to expect that. The map also doesn’t show that one of the trails requires climbing up or down a hillside using ropes. One other thing to note is that there isn’t much to the actual garden areas (although I imagine that can vary depending on the time of year). But they did have a spectacular display of poppies, which looked amazing with the mountains behind them!

I'm here on a Friday and did not have a reservation, I waited about 30 minutes to enter....it's worth the wait ( get reservations) this a quiet a good workout, lots of walk and hiking in some areas and stunningly beautiful in all directions. I'm so glad I came to visit. Dog friendly so bring your fur baby and enjoy the cool central coast weather 😎