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Mission12

Balboa Park Free Garden Crawl

Balboa Park in San Diego. Crawl its free gardens, from the lily pond to the cactus, and crown one.

Start at the Botanical Building reflected in the lily pond, then crawl from garden to garden: the tiled Alcazar Garden under the California Tower, the little sunken Zoro Garden, and across the footbridge to the Rose Garden and the Desert Garden. Score each one out of ten as you go, and crown a winner. The photo to get: you in the winning garden, then the Botanical Building upside down in the lily pond.

  • Date or adventure
  • 1-3 hours
  • Easy
  • Free
  • Outdoors
  • Daytime

Good with just you, friends, family, and kids

Check before you go: opening hours

Botanical Building and Lily Pond, Balboa Park, El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego1550 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
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Kids' version

Garden hunt! Find each thing.

  1. The big lily pond
  2. A fountain
  3. A butterfly or a bee
  4. A giant cactus
  5. A selfie in your favorite garden!

Checked November 2026

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About this place

Most of what you'll see was built for two world's fairs. The Botanical Building, one of the largest wooden lath structures in the world, went up for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and holds thousands of plants. The Alcazar Garden is modeled on the gardens of the Alcázar in Seville.

The Zoro Garden has the best story: at the 1935 exposition it was a "nudist colony" exhibit that fairgoers paid to peek at. Today it's a quiet butterfly garden.

The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden and the Desert Garden sit side by side across the Park Boulevard footbridge. Roses peak in spring, and the Desert Garden blooms in late winter and spring. All of the gardens are free.

Also in: Free Date Ideas · Kid-Friendly Adventures

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