UCSC students sitting & standing in the CA Conservation Garden listening to a talk about the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program

Exploring Our Gardens

Touring the Arboretum

Self-Guided Tours

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The Arboretum offers many wonderful opportunities for exploration and learning for all ages, backgrounds, and capabilities. We have beautiful, information-packed interpretive signs near the entrances to every garden, to help make your visit an educationally enriching experience. Preview some of our interpretive signs here: 

What is an Arboretum?

California’s Peoples and Plants

Australian Garden

Aroma Garden

Guided Tour Every 1st Saturday

'Hummingbird Sage' flower stalk in the CA Conservation garden

FIRST SATURDAY Tours are a wonderful way to introduce yourself to the Arboretum or to deepen your understanding of the Arboretum’s plant collections. Each tour is a little different depending on the time of year, the interests of the tour guide and the people who join in. You might learn more about the birds and mammals that make this land their home or about the amazing physical adaptations that plants have evolved to better deal with extreme weather and climate conditions. 

Tours given on the 1st Saturday of each month:

When:  11am
Admission: $10/person
Current Arboretum Members: FREE Admission

Meet your tour guide(s) at the entrance to the Visitor Parking lot. Walks will be about one hour. Tours are cancelled if the weather is unsuitable. 

Other Ways To Explore

For Group Visits

Garden visitors on a tour of the Arboretum

If you’d like to plan a group visit consisting of more than 10-12 people or for a school group, please let us know by completing this form:

Bring a picnic lunch to the Arboretum! 

There are picnic benches in several parts of the gardens (see map below) and several open, grassy areas, where school groups can sit ​on the ground for lunch or for ​instruction. Parents and Teachers: Help us protect the plants and the critters that rely on them by keeping children on pathways & open grassy areas.

Last modified: Oct 06, 2025