Descanso Gardens

The Descanso Gardens, located at 1418 Descanso Dr., La Canada Flintridge, CA, is just 13 miles north from downtown Los Angeles. The 150-acre garden once belonged to E Manchester Boddy, owner of the Los Angeles Daily News, and was a commercial camellia garden until he gave it to Los Angeles County in 1953.

Descanso now features several gardens including: a five-acre rose garden, a Japanese garden, Nature's Table, a garden full of fruit trees, herbs, vegetables and edible flowers; an eight-acre California garden with native landscaping, and an Oak forest.

In addition to the gardens, Descanso also provides several attractions. Their Enchanted Railroad is a 1/8th replica of a diesel train that traverses a section of the gardens. Additional sites include the Full Moon Tea House within the Japanese Garden, a bird observation site, tours of the Boddy House and a tram ride around the gardens.

The Descanso Gardens are open daily except for Christmas. The general hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and free parking is available at the site. The Enchanted Railroad and Boddy House tours are only available on weekends between 10 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. The tram ride tours have various hours throughout the week, require at least 6 people before running, and are closed on Monday and Tuesdays.