The Regional Parks Botanic Garden is a naturally beautiful and tranquil living museum of California native plants. Located within Tilden Regional Park in the hills above Berkeley, California, this enchanting 10-acre garden is a sanctuary for many of the state's rare and endangered plants and a place for visitors to wander among trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses from plant communities throughout the state. The Botanic Garden is welcoming to all visitors from our entire Bay Area community and travelers to the Bay Area.
Canyon Section and Rainforest Trail Closed
The Canyon section between the small bridge by Wildcat Creek and the larger upper bridge by the Glasshouse and the new Rainforest trail below the Sequoia building are currently closed.
During the recent storm (4/20-21) the Botanic Garden sustained significant damage in the Canyon section of the Garden. A very large trunk of a double-trunked coast live oak tree snapped off at the base, and fell into a nearby multi-trunked bay tree. The second trunk of the double-trunked oak is currently still standing, but is no longer stable and it now endangers all of the paths and plantings in that very large area due to its immense size and positioning on the slope at the edge of the north side of the Franciscan section. The additional three standing trunks of the bay tree are also now highly unstable (particularly the largest one) and could also snap off at any time. Due to their sizes and positions, a large part of the “beginning” part of the Canyon section (including the two middle paths that lead deeper into the Canyon) is unsafe for ALL visitors.
Botanic Garden staff are hard at work getting this situation taken care of, so please respect these closures that have been made for your safety.
Upcoming Events
Botanical Hotspots of Northern California
Northern California is among the most diverse floras of the world and much of that diversity is found in well defined hotspots. In May and July Glenn Keator offers this series of free presentations from 10 AM to 12 PM at the Botanic Garden Visitor Center.
May 31 SNOW MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS The Snow Mountain Wilderness straddles the summit of the North Coast Range within Colusa, Glenn and Lake counties. The central feature of this wilderness is the large broad topped Snow Mountain, which drains water toward the Sacramento River on the east and the Eel River Basin on the west. The deep canyons skirting the Wilderness compress ecological life zones creating a unique biological sky-island.
July 12 THE SMITH RIVER WATERSHED California’s most northern undammed river feeds into wetlands and sea promontories and extends into deep forested canyons with peaks rising to 5,000 feet and is home to many special endemics.
July 19 COOK AND GREEN PASS Just short of the Oregon border, 5000-foot Cook and Green Pass has an unparalleled diversity combining lowland species with high and subalpine species in a series of forests, meadows, and rock outcrops.
July 26 MT. EDDY This, the highest point in the Klamath Mountains at 9,000 feet is an entirely serpentine area featuring several gem like lakes, large meadows, a range of interesting conifers, and true alpine habitat. It is also home to vast populations of the curious insectivorous cobra plant, Darlingtonia californica.
Plants of Interest
Larkspur
Baha sage
Snow drop
Laguna heuchera
Flannel bush
Yerba santa
Catalina nightshade
Channel Island tree poppy
Coral bells
Pacific ninebark
Western spicebush
Candyflower
Stream violet
Pacific rhododendron
Two-lipped monkeyflower
Yerba mansa
Santa Rosa horkelia
American dogwood
Ongoing Activities
