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Explore Together
Foster a Love of Nature
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden provides the perfect classroom for school trips, corporate retreats, and clubs. Due to county-directed capacity restrictions and parking limitations, group excursions of more than 10 guests are required to make a group reservation so we can guarantee your party will be accommodated.
Please note, outside of school or youth-focused organization group visits, we currently do not offer discounted admission.
Contact
group experiences
805.682.4726, ext. 102
Summer Camps
Children ages 5 to 10 are invited to join us for a week of outdoor play, exploration, and connection in the Backcountry at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Campers will create, get dirty, ask questions, and seek answers in one of California’s premier native botanical landscapes.
School Visits
We are proud to offer several guided tours, led by our Education and Engagement Team, to further enhance your school group’s visit to the Garden.
Field Trips
Self-guided School Visits
Moving at your own pace through the Garden might be what your school group prefers. If that’s the case for you, here are a few things to keep in mind. A reservation request must be received no later than 21 business days before your desired visit date in order to receive your discount.
When booking a reservation through a school or youth-focused organization, the Garden will discount admission as follows:
- Youth: 50% off admission
- Teachers and group leaders: 50% off admission
- Adult Chaperones: No charge for maximum of five adults. We recommend one adult per six to eight students.
Teacher Resources
To support a lifelong connection with the natural world, the Garden has several free tools available to support educators and enthusiasts to pass along an appreciation of native plants to the next generation.
Partnering with local teachers, we have developed lessons and unit materials that can be completed both synchronously and asynchronously. These units and activities support teachers’ science and environmental curriculum in the classroom, at the Garden, and online.
Guided Group Visits
The Garden can be a great destination for your team to find inspiration, work on team building, and/or learn about California’s native plants and habitats together. To ensure we can meet your needs while providing you with the best experience possible, our team is happy to help you plan your next outing. Please use the form at the bottom of the page to submit your group visit request.
Self-guided Groups
Self-guided group visits do not need to be arranged in advance unless you require a bus for your visit. If you’re unsure, please use the form below to contact our team.
Parking Guidelines
Because of the geography and shape of our parking lot, buses longer than 31 feet (9.4 meters) are not permitted. The Garden only has one bus parking space. If your group requires a bus for transportation, please submit a group visit request below. Otherwise, group reservations will include a preset number of parking spaces. Carpooling is strongly encouraged.
Blackout Dates
Due to the high volume of visitors of weekends, holidays, and during special events, we do not offer group discounts during those times. In addition, the availability of large group visits and private tours may be limited. To know whether your group visit may coincide with a blackout date, submit a group visit request below.
Contact Group Experiences
Are you ready to explore the Garden on a docent-led tour with your organization, team, or friends and family? To book your group experience or for more information, please contact our Education and Engagement Team by submitting this form.
For school field trip inquiries, please see our Field Trip section.
(NOTE: The Garden’s docent-led school group tours for the 2022-23 school year are now sold out.)