Ever feel the need to get out and see the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees with the one you love? Tired of getting your steps in walking around the same concrete block day after day?
Wherever you live in the Inland Empire, there are local botanical gardens a short drive away offering a natural oasis for escaping the daily grind of the urban jungle.
The Botanical Garden at UC Riverside and the California Botanic Garden in Claremont may offer just what you are looking for in a momentary visit with Mother Nature.
And, with it being springtime, the birds are busy building nests, the bees are buzzing around all the blooming flowers, and the trees are filled with new buds.
The gardens offer trails and pathways among their varied plants and trees, benches or even the edge of a pond for taking a pause to close your eyes and breathe it all in and informational markers for learning more about what you are looking at. Some also hold classes and events helping residents with their own gardens and connecting people with nature.
A bumblebee extends its proboscis to extract nectar from flowers on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A bumblebee looks to extract nectar from flowers on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A bench sits peacefully along the pathway of the California Botanic Garden in Claremont on Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Purple flowers bloom on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A map of the California Botanic Garden trails in Claremont on Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Poppy flowers bloom on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A butterfly and a bee meet on a Ceanothus “Dark Star” shrub on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A trail walker go through at the California Botanic Garden on Friday, March 29, 2024, in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Flowers bloom on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Entrance of the California Botanic Garden in Claremont on Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A hummingbird extracts nectar from flowers on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Poppy flowers bloom on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A bench sits peacefully along the pathway of the California Botanic Garden in Claremont on Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Purple flowers bloom on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A woman captures photos of the Channel Island Poppies along the pathway of the California Botanic Garden in Claremont on Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Trail walkers go through at the California Botanic Garden on Friday, March 29, 2024, in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A lizard blends into its surroundings on a tree trunk as it hides among plants on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Joshua Trees span along the California Botanic Garden in Claremont on Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
A butterfly sits on a Ceanothus “Dark Star” shrub on Friday, March 29, 2024, at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
The Cano family, from left, Brandon, 12, Lenna, George, Riley, 4, and Austin, 12, stroll through the California Botanic Garden in Claremont on Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Spread across 86 acres in Claremont, it is the largest botanic garden dedicated to California native plants, promoting botany, conservation and horticulture to inspire, inform and educate the public and scientific community about California’s native flora, according to the website.
Where: 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont
Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
Cost: $10 for adults, $6 for seniors over 65 and students, $4 for children 3 to 12, and children under 3 are free
Master’s student Matthew Barclay, 24, from the School of Business, takes a walk through the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (UCR/Stan Lim)
Flowers from aloe vera plants blooms in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 (UCR/Stan Lim)
Chloe Schneider, 2, of Riverside and her grandmother Winona Schneider, visiting from Nebraska, walk past California Poppies blooming in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (UCR/Stan Lim)
A women and child walk a path located in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.(UCR/Stan Lim)
A male valley carpenter bee approaches a blooming Salvia purpurea in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (UCR/Stan Lim)
Turtles perched themselves on a log in Turtle Pond, located in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (UCR/Stan Lim)
A group look for turtles in Turtle Pond, located in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (UCR/Stan Lim)
A group walk a trail at the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.(UCR/Stan Lim)
People walk along a trail at the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (UCR/Stan Lim)
A male valley carpenter bee approaches a blooming Salvia purpurea in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (UCR/Stan Lim)
Located in the foothills of the Box Springs Mountains on the east side of the UC Riverside, the gardens covers 40 hilly acres that invites visitors to “come visit our collection and gardens, wander over four miles of scenic trails, or just relax on a bench and enjoy the beauty and vistas,” according to the website.
Where: 1 Botanic Gardens Drive, Riverside
Hours: 8 a.m. to 3:30 pm Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. first and third Sunday
