The Arboretum of Los Angeles County

Location: 301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia (south of the 210 freeway, across the street from the Santa Anita Racetrack and Mall)
Website: www.arboretum.org
Type of Activity: Nature, Outdoors
Hours: 9am-5pm Daily (entrance closes at 4:30pm)
Cost: Free on the 3rd Tuesday of the month! Otherwise, $7 adults, $5 seniors & students, $2.50 ages 5-12, under 5 free. Year memberships available.


I try to go to the Arboretum every month. It's a historical site with beautiful botanic gardens on 127 acres, and a great place to get your kids out in nature.

There are several types of gardens at the Arboretum: The jungle garden (with a random dinosaur-shaped bush), the herb garden, rose garden, etc, and a children's garden with a very cute outdoor classroom under a tree with tree stumps for chairs. Each time we go we find a new lawn we have practically to ourselves.

The Arboretum has some beautiful fountains and a waterfall, and many ponds and a large "lake" with all sorts of birds, ducks, geese, turtles, and koi fish. My favorite animals to see at the Arboretum are the many peacocks that roam freely.

In addition to gardens and ponds, there are some interesting historical structures at the Arboretum: There's an original adobe building onsite (where, oddly, Lucky Baldwin used to live); some recreations of Native American huts (fun for kids to play in); a "Jolly Holiday"-esque Victorian house (you can't go inside, but you can walk around the porch of the entire house looking through all the windows at the antique furniture, decorations, and "family"); a matching carriage house; and the original Santa Anita train station, which has been relocated from about a mile or so north. The train station is a little bit of a walk, but totally worth it (you can actually see it as you drive down Baldwin Ave). It's decorated with antiques and old maps of the area, and there is someone there to tell you about the place.

In comparison to the Hungington Gardens, most of the Arboretum gardens have a more natural feel. Also, the grounds are so big that it never gets too crowded, even when there are busloads of summer camp kids on the free day (unlike the Huntington, where you can run into some major stroller gridlock).

Tips: Bring comfortable shoes and your stroller. Also, technically, you're not supposed to have picnics inside the Arboretum. But I always have food for the kid, and I usually snack on a sandwich myself, and have never gotten in trouble. Also, you're probably not supposed to feed the peacocks and other fowl/fish/turtles, but they will take food directly from your hand if you offer it.

Parks_, Outdoors_, Nature_, Babies_, Toddlers_, Kids_,