Tilden Regional Park Lush Scenery minutes from the City!

Lovely & Lush Park To Visit

Just minutes from Downtown Berkeley in Northern California is a wonderous nature-filled park that offers more than a day’s worth of hiking trails, gardens, lakes, and tons of entertainment for the whole family!

Tilden Regional is part of the East Bay Regional Park District, established in 1934. One of many beautiful landscapes to visit while in the area. With each offering a reprieve from the city and a natural setting, it is no wonder these parks are so well maintained and beloved.

Today’s focus is on Tilden Regional and all the recreational fun it has to offer. This park makes you feel as though you are visiting your rich uncle’s immaculate estate while on holiday. (At least that is what adventuring this park brings to my imagination.) It is vast, with over 2000 acres of absolute loveliness and many free amenities and attractions it is no wonder it is beloved by the locals!

Details

Hours: M-F 5:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Fees: No Parking or Entrance Fees

Address: 2501 Grizzly Peak Blvd. Entrances off Wildcat Canyon Road and Grizzly Peak Boulevard in Berkeley, CA

Dogs Allowed: Yes!

Attractions

• Botanical Garden – Free
• Tilden Nature Area – Free
• Environmental Education Center – Free
• Little Farm and petting zoo – Free
• Tilden Merry Go Round – $4 per ride (Birthday Party Packages available too)
• Tilden Steam Train – $4 per ride
• Lake Anza – $2-$4 (Swimming Season begins in late April)
• Native Here Nursery
• Golf Course $18 – $62 (18 Hole Course)

Below are highlights from a couple of my favorite attractions to enjoy.

Tilden Nature Area

Located at 1500 Central Park Drive, Berkeley, CA 94708 inside the landscape of Tilden Park is the fun and interactive Tilden Nature Area Environmental Education Center. What a wonderful resource to explore and learn through the many exhibits on display at this museum and learning center. You can walk through a cave like exhibit and learn all about the Wildcat Creek Watershed, or have fun looking though a microscope with full-screen projection.

Outside the Museum Center, there are plenty of grassy areas, so bring a nice blanket to relax and enjoy a good book or picnic, once done relaxing a bit, be sure to hit one of the many trails you can enjoy a walk or hike on.

Little Farm

Mere steps from the Nature Center is The Historic Little Farm ♥ It is free and open to all, it features the cutest farm animals to feed and pet, as well as handwashing stations and restrooms. This area is full of fun for all ages!

And YES, feeding and petting the cow was allowed. She was so very sweet; we quickly became friends ♥

Tilden Botanical Garden

This beautiful garden features California Native Growths from many regions including coastal bluffs, mountains, foothills, alpines, and central valley. It has a canopy of redwoods to walk under, bridges that cross little creeks, and paths meandering along beautiful flowerbeds and succulent landscapes.

And be sure to peruse the Garden Shop for their Plant Sales to take a piece of their cultivated love home with you!

Garden Details

Hours: Oct.-May: 8:30am-5pm, Jun.-Sep.: 8:30am-5:30pm

Address: 1550 Wildcat Canyon Rd.
Berkeley, CA 94708 

Fees: No Entrance Fee

Dogs: No Dogs Allowed

Picnic Area: Yes, grassy areas near ponds and gardens to enjoy

To Picnic or not to Picnic?

Yes! Enjoy a lovely picnic as there are many places to do so. There are picnic tables in many locations and always a nice patch of grass to toss a blanket down. There is no shortage of space and you may have difficulty deciding where you want to picnic because there are great options everywhere!

Dining

Perhaps after a day of exploring all that Tilden has to offer, or hiking one of their many trails (that post to come soon..) You may want to stop for a delicious bite in Beautiful Downtown Berkely and boy do I have a suggestion for you! Cholita Linda – absolutely delicious bites of Latin/Peruvian food. YUM!

Well, my lovely adventuring friends hope you do yourself a favor and make it a point to enjoy this wonderful garden and all it has to offer its visitors. I truly was in awe at how beautiful, lush, vast, and FREE it was!

If you enjoyed this quick read perhaps you will want to take a peak at another one of my Bay Area favorites – The San Francisco Botanical Garden at Golden Gate Park.

Until next time, Cheers and Sunshine ♥ ~ always andee