Arid western landscapes aren’t the most hospital places for colorful flowers – so maybe there’s a little magic sprinkled in with the dirt at these botanical destinations. All of the spots listed below are free and open to the public. While we’ve included current operating hours for reference, it’s always best to confirm details online, prior to visiting, to ensure nothing has changed.
The Hudson Gardens & Event Center
Hours: Gardens open daily from sunrise to sunset; welcome center open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: 6115 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton; hudsongardens.org
No need to travel far for this first garden, which is a short ride from Denver via the South Platte River and Mary Carter Greenway trails. If you bike in – highly recommended – start with something caffeinated at Nixon’s Coffee House, situated at Hudson Gardens’ northeast entrance. The main garden entrance is off Santa Fe Drive, and as long as an event isn’t happening, you’ll find ample free parking in one of several lots preceding a welcome center and gift shop.
Owned and operated by South Suburban Parks and Recreation, Hudson Gardens houses thirty acres of display gardens, along with gentle trails, open spaces, water features, and plenty of peaceful nooks. There’s lots to see and discover, including a water lily pond, rose garden, the native Colorado Garden, vegetable and herb plots, and Bob’s Pond Water Garden, showcasing the diversity of the planet’s aquatic plants. All of these spaces can be accessed via the sole paved trail looping through the property. If you’re visiting with kids, don’t miss an adorable “Hobbit Hole” play area preceding Turtle Pond. Near the big red barn, look for an apiary with twenty beehives owned by community beekeepers. Several times a season – check online for details – guests can drop by the apiary for a free beekeeping class. Other onsite activities include public art exhibits, painting sessions, and guided meditation.
Betty Ford Alpine Gardens
Hours: Open daily from dawn until dusk; education center open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: 522 S. Frontage Road E, Vail; bettyfordalpinegardens.org
From the Vail Village parking structure, it’s an easy 10-minute walk east to North America’s highest botanical gardens, which, yes, were named for the former first lady. (She loved to garden!) Inside Ford Park, 8,200 feet above sea level, visitors can view 3,000 species of high-altitude plants growing in four distinct zones: the Mountain Perennial Garden, Alpine Rock Garden, Mountain Meditation Garden, and an enchanting children’s garden, with edible plants and a market playhouse. During a late summer visit, keep an eye out for succulents, colorful poppies, edelweiss, Colorado’s state flower, the blue columbine, and a special hybrid Betty Ford daylily, among many additional blooms.
Don’t miss the permanent informational panels and rotating exhibits at the Education Center on the far end of the gardens, adjacent to Ford Park’s playground. After learning more about hardy plants that grow in alpine environments, check out a state-of-the-art cold greenhouse – the “Alpine House” – mimicking a cool mountain environment, containing over 200 species of rare bulbs and greenery from around the world. Refreshments and ice cream are available seasonally at the Schoolhouse Museum & Gift Shop, across from the main garden entrance. There’s no admission fee, but a $20 donation is suggested for those who are able to pay.
John Denver Sanctuary
Hours: Open daily from dawn to dusk
Location: 470 Rio Grande Place, Aspen; aspenchamber.org
Past Aspen’s downtown shopping district, behind Rio Grande Park, walkers discover a charming riverside memorial commemorating the popular 1970s singer-songwriter. It’s hard to believe this manmade wetland habitat was once an industrial site. In the years following John Denver’s death, landscape architects placed hundreds of boulders throughout the sanctuary and planted groves of native trees, too, along with shrubs, creating a hardworking landscape that provides a refuge for nature lovers while simultaneously cleaning about 30 percent of the city’s stormwater runoff.
Within the sanctuary, enjoy one of the area’s largest perennial flower gardens, planted near the Song Garden, where John Denver’s lyrics are carved into rocks. The flowers are usually blooming by early June, and will continue coloring the landscape all summer.
Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens
Hours: Open daily from dawn until dusk, except in extremely snowy conditions
Location: Near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Prospect Street, Lyons; rmbg.org
Boulder County’s first botanical garden has quite the origin story. In 2013, the St. Vrain River’s normal flow reached “biblical” proportions, as the National Weather Service put it, when water levels rose over 20 times the volume of a typical flood. The catastrophic event stranded residents for days, damaging roads, sewer lines, and a significant number of homes. Out of the devastation, something positive grew when the town of Lyons purchased the floodplain nand then permitted volunteers to plant a modestly sized demonstration garden dreamed up by resident Garima Fairfax.
Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens is a peaceful space to learn about drought-tolerant gardening as well as plants that grow in local riparian areas, bogs, and peaks. From the main garden entrance, follow a winding, looping, crushed-gravel path through a series of enchanting “demonstration gardens” divided into Colorado’s five key ecosystems. While wandering about, enjoy the colors and smells of dwarf wild indigo, prairie verbena, golden smoke, firewheel, and purple aster, to name just a few of the site’s flora. The garden is also a fantastic place to spot butterflies, native birds, and other wildlife. Public classes are offered throughout the year; check online for details.
Yampa River Botanic Park
Hours: Open seasonally from dawn until dusk, between early May and the first heavy snow
Location: 1000 Pamela Lane, Steamboat Springs; yampariverbotanicpark.org
It’s possible to walk or bike into this 6-acre former horse pasture via the paved Yampa River Core Trail. Or enter through the big iron gates just past the sports fields at Emerald Park. Follow the site’s main path past a series of sixty individual gardens with different themes, many accessed via side trails jutting off from the central loop.
Most guests spend 45 minutes to an hour walking under a canopy of mature aspen and spruce trees, enjoying colorful flowers that really pop in the summer. Foxtail lilies are currently in peak bloom: These eye-catching perennials tend to delight visitors who aren’t familiar with the Asian plant. Look, too, for Himalayan blue poppies and the state flower, blue columbine, growing amid colorful peonies. The native garden is a little wild, but that’s the whole point: It was planted as an education feature showcasing the region’s essential vegetation.
Other highlights include the medicinal herb, spring bulb, and rock gardens; with its enchanting fairy village, the children’s garden is a big hit with young naturalists. Pop in for free concerts on Wednesday mornings, through Aug. 21. On Fridays and Sundays, free guided walking tours take off from the main entrance at 10 a.m. Only ADA service animals are permitted inside Yampa River Botanic Park.
Three more gardens worth the drive:
Red Hills Desert Garden
Hours: Open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Location: 375 E. Red Hills Pkwy., St. George, Utah; redhillsdesertgarden.comredhillsdesertgarden.com
With panoramic views of Utah’s rocky red formations as its backdrop, Red Hills Desert Garden is a scenic place to learn about native plants that not only survive but thrive in the country’s most arid landscapes. The Washington County Water Conservancy District owns and operates this vibrant desert conservation garden – Utah’s first – with the goal of demonstrating to visitors just how gorgeous water-efficient landscapes can be.
With 6,400 feet of looping walking trails, Red Hills Desert Garden also flaunts rare and endangered fish species in a 1,150-foot stocked stream preceding a replica slot canyon where guests can experience the thrill of walking through one of nature’s unique geological features. Because the site’s native flora has different blooming seasons, there’s really no bad time to explore a whopping 5,000 plant species that range from colorful succulents and wildflowers to hardy shrubs and desert-adapted trees. Interpretive signs provide fodder for home gardeners, and prehistoric dinosaur tracks and real fossils dating back 200 million years, unearthed during site excavation, will wow paleontology enthusiasts of all ages. The garden hosts a variety of seasonal celebrations, including an autumn scarecrow walk and holiday lights. Leashed dogs are allowed to visit with their owners.
Ward-Meade Historic Site
Hours: Open daily from 8 a.m. to dusk
Location: 124 NW Fillmore St., Topeka; parks.snco.us
The 7-hour drive from Denver to Topeka isn’t exactly known for its beautiful vistas, but there’s plenty to gawk at once you reach Kansas’s capital city. Park in the lot off NW Clay Street, and stroll through history at Old Prairie Town. The 1800s village is part of a 6-acre historic site that includes the Ward-Meade mansion, a national historic landmark, and Ward-Meade Botanical Garden.
After grabbing a milkshake at the Potwin Drug Store, open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from noon until 4 p.m., continue through the village to reach a 2.5-acre botanic garden. Shaded, paved trails take guests through several distinct sections, including national display gardens for hostas and daylilies plus a national conifer reference garden. Interpretive signs make it easy to learn as you browse. Beyond the arbors, gazebo, bridges, and sculptures, other lovely touches include a monarch butterfly way station and tulips galore in April. During “Tulip Time” an impressive 100,000 tulips bloom across Topeka; 20,000 of them grow inside Ward-Meade Park.
The Midwest is known for delivering value, and Topeka furnishes two free botanic gardens. Don’t miss the Ted Ensley Gardens, 3650 SE W. Edge Road, with over 37 acres of flowers flourishing on the west side of Lake Shawnee.
Bajada Nature Trail
Hours: Open daily from sunrise to sunset
Location: 18333 N. Thompson Peak Pkwy., Scottsdale; mcdowellsonoran.org
For an up-close look at desert life, head to the Bajada Nature Trail, located at the Gateway Trailhead in the Southern Region of Scottsdale’s massive McDowell Sonoran Preserve, which grants hikers access to more than 225 miles of scenic trails winding through the rugged Sonoran Desert. A bajada, in case you’re curious, is the area between steep mountain slopes and the flat valley floor. This special geological zone is known for containing deep, loose soil that can sustain a varied community of plant life – and when it comes to rich biodiversity, the Bajada Nature Trail definitely delivers.
This site isn’t a cultivated garden like the others, but it’s earned its spot on this list. City planners constructed the nature trail within the existing desert, routing a wide, figure-eight path through naturally occurring native plants so guests who aren’t able to hike difficult desert terrain can still experience the area’s natural beauty. A series of interactive interpretive panels gives insight into Arizona plants. There’s no shortage of cacti: chollas, saguaro, and barrel, to name just a few. Native trees such as palo verde are plentiful, too, along with shrubs such as creosote bush and bursage.
Jamie Siebrase freelances for The Denver Post. She is an author, mom, and outdoors enthusiast based in Littleton.
