Next time you plan a visit to one of Georgia's botanical gardens, make sure you include one of these must-see spaces in your plans.
Kendeda Canopy Walk– You come to the Atlanta Botanical Garden to seek out nature and greenery and you will be in a natural place on this suspension bridge. It's sort of like a trail through treetops. But at the same time it's hard not to marvel at the bridge itself and wonder how it all works. You'll be up to 40 feet off the ground on this six hundred foot trail in the garden's Storza Woods. It's concrete, but you might think of a certain yellow brick road while you're on it.
Trails at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia– Seven color-designated trails give visitors plenty of options for exploration in Athens where admission to the Garden is free. Visit the Middle Oconee River, see wildlife like beavers and otters, gaze upon the famously narrow Georgia pine trees or see where a farmhouse used to stand, marked by the ruins of the home's still standing chimney. Hikes are as short as .12 miles and as long as 3.22 miles. For easy hiking, download the trail map before you go.
Reinhard House– Originally built by German immigrants William & Anna Reinhard on 12 acres known as the Reinard Farm, property that is now Hillcrest Abbey, the two-story farmhouse was moved to the Savannah Botanical Garden in 1990. Currently only open for visits during special events, the house is unique because its two-story farmhouse architecture is uncommon in the area. Future plans call for the home's interior to be restored to be historically accurate.
Ivester Amphitheater– Built into the hillside at Atlanta Botanical Garden's new Gainesville campus, the amphitheater provides plenty of play space for young ones when it's not being used to host concerts, children's performances and picnics. A complete of change of landscape from every venue in the Atlanta area, there's not a bad seat in the house. Still this summer, the amphitheater will welcome The Four Tops, the Indigo Girls and Loretta Lynn for intimate concerts.
Ivester Amphitheater is open to the public during the Garden's regular business hours and visiting it is included with admission. Tickets for each concert are available for an additional charge.
Daffodil Garden – Gibbs Gardens may be one of Georgia's best-kept secrets. Sitting on 300 acres in Ball Ground, their Daffodil Garden includes 20 million (yes, million) daffodils of 60 different varieties. From March to mid-April, the fields of daffodils are in full bloom. Want to go in the summer? There's still plenty to see including the largest Japanese garden in the United States and the Waterlily Garden, a reproduction of the famed Japanese bridge at Givery captured in Monet's famous painting Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lillies (1899).
Admission to the entirety of the grounds is included with the price of your ticket.
