Bay Area & Sonoma Gardens Tour
Sonoma Valley and the East Bay hills hold three very different gardens: a hillside collection of rare Asian and California native plants, a marketplace of designer garden installations, and a university garden with plants from around the world. Together they make an easy day of touring, with a garden lunch stop in the middle and the option of finishing in Berkeley.
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Sonoma Botanical Garden
Sonoma Botanical Garden is a 67-acre garden in the hills of Sonoma Valley, with a special focus on Asian and California native plants. The garden contains about 20,000 individual plants representing nearly 1,500 species, including many rare and endangered plants. More than three miles of paths wind through Asian woodlands, California oak landscapes, open hillsides, and areas overlooking the surrounding valley. Magnolias, maples, rhododendrons, and other plants collected from across Asia are highlights of the collection. Visitors can also see Spirit Guides, a collection of eight large, brightly painted animal sculptures inspired by the Zapotec calendar and placed throughout the garden.
Helpful hints
Plan on spending about 1½ to 2 hours here, and wear comfortable walking shoes. The garden feels more like a walk through a woodland than a traditional formal botanical garden, and some trails are steep or uneven. Bring a water bottle, as drinking water is not available along the trails.
Cornerstone Sonoma
Cornerstone Sonoma is a garden, marketplace, and gathering place at the gateway to Sonoma Valley. Its gardens were inspired by the International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire in France and combine plants, art, architecture, and landscape design. Visitors can wander through a series of garden spaces created by local and international designers, with sculptures, water features, open lawns, and the Lily Pond among the highlights. Admission to the gardens is free, making Cornerstone an easy addition to a day of garden touring. The property also includes shops, wine tasting, and casual dining, so there is plenty to explore beyond the gardens.
Helpful hints
Cornerstone might be a particularly good place to stop around lunchtime. You can walk through the gardens and then have lunch at the on-site Cornerstone Café, which serves sandwiches, salads, pastries, coffee, and other casual options. Outside food and drinks are not permitted in the gardens. Because the businesses at Cornerstone have changed over time, it is worth checking the current marketplace listings before your visit.
UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley
The UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley is a 34-acre garden located in Strawberry Canyon above the UC Berkeley campus. The garden is home to more than 10,000 kinds of plants from around the world, including many rare and endangered species. Plants are organized mainly by geographic region, with collections representing California, Asia, Australasia, the Mediterranean, and the Americas. Winding paths take visitors through a wide variety of landscapes, specialty plant collections, glasshouses, and the Mather Redwood Grove. With plants from many different climates and regions, the garden is a great place to explore unusual species and discover plants from around the world.
Helpful hints
Allow at least two hours to explore the garden. The hillside setting includes some steep and uneven paths, so comfortable walking shoes are a good idea. Arriving earlier in the day gives you more time to visit the glasshouses, specialty collections, and Redwood Grove without feeling rushed.
