The Peach State has so many beautiful public gardens for visitors to enjoy. You don’t need to have a green thumb to appreciate the design and upkeep of these gardens. Stroll through their winding paths, take photos, and reflect. These enchanting Georgia gardens are worth visiting any time of the year but especially shine in the spring and summer months.
These are the best public gardens in Georgia and the most open year-round. Purchase day tickets or consider a membership if you want to visit frequently. Some gardens offer special events for gardeners and families, so it’s always worth checking out the websites while planning your visit. During the winter months, several Georgia gardens transform into winter wonderlands with holiday lights. There’s always a reason to visit the gardens!
Atlanta Botanical Gardens (Atlanta)
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is a 30-acre botanical garden located adjacent to Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta. Its central location provides a beautiful green space in the city. It’s a great spot for nature lovers and families that want outdoor fun. Beautiful displays, spectacular exhibitions, and a few traveling exhibits make it an award-winning garden to visit.
What makes the Atlanta Botanical Garden extra special is the table-service restaurant located inside the garden. Admission is required to dine. Longleaf is a two-level contemporary glass structure restaurant serving fresh Americana cuisine with a southern twist. Advanced reservations are recommended.
If you have kids, don’t miss the Children’s Garden. It’s a space with little ones in mind where they can climb, run and play. They offer Scarecrows in the Garden during the fall, and during Christmas, they have the Garden Lights Holiday Nights event. Thousands of holiday lights illuminate the garden for walking through. During the daytime, the garden offers photos of Botanical St. Nick, one of the most unique Santa visits in the city.
Callaway Resort & Gardens (Pine Mountain)
Callaway Resort & Gardens is SouthWest Georgia’s premiere destination if you’re looking for a weekend family getaway. They offer four seasons of fun, so there’s always a reason to visit Callaway.
In the springtime, they’re known for gardens exploding with 2,500 acres of azaleas. Kids can splash around in the lake, fish, or enjoy golfing as a family during the summer. The fall season brings classic corn maze fun and pumpkins. Enjoy Christmas with their Fantasy In Lights at Callaway display to finish the year. It’s half of a drive-through light experience, and there’s out-of-your-vehicle fun, too.
Callaway offers lodging options to enjoy the gardens for several days. Stay at Callaway Resort & Gardens to get the maximum experience. Enjoy garden views at the lodge, with 150 guest rooms and an onsite spa and pool. Multigenerational families can spread out in the two-bedroom cottages and enjoy some privacy. Check out the Callaway specials and weekend packages to save money on your garden visit.
Hills and Dales Estate (LaGrange)
Completed in 1916, The Callaway family home in LaGrange, Georgia, graces immaculate gardens and is one of the finest historic homes in America today. Hills & Dales Estate is a 13,000-square-foot home surrounded by gorgeously preserved 19th-century gardens.
Children ages six and up are allowed to tour the home. Hills & Dales does a fantastic job to include the kids by offering a scavenger hunt. The kids are excited as they tour the house and find every item on the scavenger hunt list. In addition to that, the Hills & Dales event calendar includes several monthly kid-friendly events.
Even if the gardens aren’t blooming, there’s always a reason to visit. One of the most popular events at Hills & Dales is during the holiday season. The home is decorated accurately according to history and truly sparkles for Christmas. Over-the-top trees, wreaths, and garlands adorn the already beautiful, historic home.
State Botanical Garden Of Georgia (Athens)
Kids can spend hours at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens and never get bored. They have an immersive children’s garden where kids can play, learn, crawl, and touch. I think it’s the best children’s garden in Georgia. It’s a phenomenal area for active kids to enjoy being outside, but it’s not a standard playground. Kids can discover a fossil wall and a giant chestnut treehouse, walk across bridges, and admire a vegetable garden.
The event calendar is filled with great activities for the kids. Whether watching a performance in the garden or learning farm-to-table cooking skills, the kids are sure to find something they enjoy.
The University of Georgia maintains the garden. The Dahlia Garden is superb, and the Heritage Garden is home to native Georgia plants. During the spring season, the azaleas and rhododendrons are bursting with color.
Rock City Gardens (Lookout Mountain)
Of all the Georgia Gardens, my heart is connected to Rock City Gardens because our family loves it so much. It’s a whimsical garden where visitors can walk through natural wonders and see seven states at the top of Lookout Mountain. It’s so much fun to stroll through the Enchanted Garden, where you’ll see massive, ancient rock formations, illuminated caves, picturesque overlooks, and even silly sections of trail where you’ll squeeze through sideways while giggling.
Whether crossing a swinging bridge or walking through the Fairyland Caverns, Rock City Gardens with kids is truly magical. It’s not stroller-friendly but great for preschoolers and older, who will love the exhibits.
Rock City Gardens does a fantastic job celebrating holidays. For St. Patrick’s Day, they turn the Lover’s Leap waterfall green and offer a festival with unique entertainment. The Enchanted Garden of Lights turns the gardens into a sparkling light exhibit at Christmas. They even have a North Pole Village and extra enchantments to get you into the holiday spirit.
Columbus Botanical Gardens (Columbus)
The Columbus Botanical Gardens might be one of the smaller Georgia gardens, but they make up their size with plenty to offer. Currently, the garden has only developed 4 of its 36 acres, but it continues to grow, giving visitors a reason to return. The garden has winding paths, water features, and a secluded wooded area, which makes you feel miles away from the city of Columbus.
The garden prides itself on its educational and enrichment offerings to the public. Whether you want a backdrop for your special event, a quiet place to reflect, or learn more about how to be a better home gardener, the Columbus Botanical Garden is the place to be.
Barnsley Resort (Adairsville)
Another fantastic weekend destination is Barnsley Resort. The resort sits on 3,000 acres and offers gorgeous views of the North Georgia landscape. Feel history come to life in the Manor House Ruins and gardens. The founder, Godfrey Barnsley, poured his heart and soul into this Southern estate, a gift for his beloved bride two centuries ago. Nature and recreation unite today, offering far more than other Georgia gardens.
Horseback riding, hiking, biking, shooting, and golf are recreational activities guests can enjoy on-site. Some of the Barnsley Resort cottages are pet-friendly. Bring the dog, curl up next to the fire, or soak in a claw-foot tub. Come for the gardens, but stay for so much more.
Gibbs Gardens (Ball Ground)
Gibbs Gardens is comprised of 220 acres of landscaped gardens. You’ll walk alongside spring-fed streams, ponds, and lakes and take in the views of the surrounding hillsides. In the springtime, fifty acres with 20 million daffodils come to life, welcoming the warm weather in North Georgia. It’s a blanket of beautiful yellow blooms.
They’ve got waterlilies at the Manor House gardens, a 40-acre Japanese garden, thousands of Japanese maples, 500 varieties of daylilies, hydrangeas, and azaleas, and thousands of roses, ferns, and rhododendrons. There’s always something to see at Gibbs Gardens, no matter the season. Dogs are not allowed.
Savannah Botanical Gardens (Savannah)
Amazing volunteer efforts make the Savannah Botanical Gardens a beautiful place to visit. It’s operated by the Savannah Area Council of Garden Clubs, inc and the garden is maintained by volunteers. The garden includes both formal and naturalistic plantings as well as a two acre pond, amphitheater, nature trails, archaeological exhibit and the historic Reinhard House. They have a perennial garden, fall garden, summer garden and vegetable garden to name a few. Admission is free and it’s a great way to spend the afternoon in Savannah.
Thomasville Rose Garden (Thomasville)
Did you know that Thomasville is Georgia’s Official Rose City? The city’s long rosarian history is most evident when visiting the Thomasville Rose Garden. The garden contains over 1,500 rose bushes in full bloom from April to July, just in time for the Annual Rose Show and Festival in April!
Visitors to the garden will find charming gazebos to relax, walk on the pathways between the rose bushes, and take in the dazzling sight and sweet aroma of Thomasville’s favorite flower. Cherokee Lake Park is adjacent to the Rose Garden, a beautiful recreation area with a playground and walking trail that encircles the lake, and a full pollinator garden. It’s a South Georgia must-do!
Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens (Savannah)
If you’re looking for more tropical gardens, head to the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens near Savannah. The Gardens serve as a museum of plants, a tranquil escape, a living classroom, and an impressive, historic venue for special events. Highlights include a Mediterranean garden, crape myrtle garden, an orchid greenhouse and an iris collection. It’s another garden maintained by the University of Georgia. Children under the age of five are free.
Atlanta History Center (Atlanta)
The Atlanta History Center does a fantastic showcasing native plants that have shaped the city’s history. Their Goizueta Gardens feature plants native to the Piedmont forest and sits on 33 acres. Some of my favorites are the Asian Garden, Rhododendron Garden and Swan Woods. It’s also one of the top Atlanta movie film locations, so keep that in mind if the gardens look familiar to you.
Hart County Botanical Garden (Hartwell)
Another one of the small, but mighty, Georgia gardens is the Hart County Botanical Gardens. The garden consists of approximately eight acres and provides enrichment, along with educational opportunities, not just beauty. The gardens are free and what’s makes them unique is leashed dogs are welcome. They have a children’s garden, fairy garden, native plant garden, Asian garden and walking trails.