Kensington · US

Blake Garden UC Berkeley

Blake Garden is a 10.5-acre botanical landscape tucked into the Kensington hills above San Francisco Bay, stewarded by UC Berkeley's Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning. What began in 1922 as a private family garden designed by two pioneering women—Anita Blake and her sister Mabel Symmes—has evolved into a living laboratory of over 1,200 plant species, set against sweeping views of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. The garden is organized into five distinct outdoor "rooms," each reflecting a different climate, theme, or design tradition—from an Italian-inspired formal garden with koi pond to a shady redwood canyon, a Mediterranean terrace, an Australian wetland hollow, and an Islamic four-part garden. Admission is free, no reservation is required, and weekday mornings draw birdwatchers, families, students, and wedding photographers in roughly equal measure.