fernwood botanical garden and nature preserve

Kyea

I enjoy going here with family and friends for a relaxing walk around the gardens. They keep it looking nice all year. The admission is a little high but it's worth it.

derekp13

Its a nice place but man, Fernwood! Lower your prices!I has nice walking trails and lots of flowers but its like 9 dollars a personso it's not a place that you would want to go to very often when we haveso many nice free places.I really hope FERNWOOD reads this, you have lost a lot of business by your high prices!

66anitaf

In the category of Botanical Gardens, this one was just ok. There were several trails, dotted with a few sculptures. While there were some interesting things to see, such as the fern sculpture and the raililway garden, the park was not as well kept as many others I have been to. I suppose I wouldn't have been disappointed, had I not had to pay $8 to get in. There are many parks which are free of charge, whith well kept trails and interesting things to see. I would recommmend checking it out if you are in the area. Just do not judge all botanical gardens based upon this one.

Cheryl677

what a nice surprise! this place has it all!! wonderful places to sit and relax and think or enjoy a good book yet nice trails though the beautiful woods along the river or pretty trails in beautiful flower gardens. there are little ponds with frogs and a big lake with turtles and then the river toobeautiful trees flowers, and sitting areas to relax and sit back and take it all in. a beautiful place to take those special family pictures too

chicagoland

We visited Fernwood Gardens during a recent week long vacation to Southwest Michigan. We got in free because of our reciprocal membership to Chicago Botanic Garden. It is a much smaller scale garden, but there are some nice walking trails. There is a small scale train garden which is fun for the kids. The children's discovery garden area, but could be a little more developed. We really enjoyed the building that had animal taxidermy models of the local birds, mammals, etc, and a bird watching station. Finally, a nice walk through the woods with some well marked trails was enjoyable. This garden has more natural beauty, less organized flower beds, but it was still a great way to spend the afternoon.

Aqua-voda

what else could you ask for in a botanical garden? join and support this place. its well worth the drive. You can become involved in many different ativities not just walk around although there is that too. It getting close to their 50 year celebration. Its a blessing to have such a place to enjoy.

Keylimejellybean

Love this place! Gorgeous grounds, pleasant, well trained staff and incredible food in their Cafe! Picture perfect outdoor wedding venue and they offer some fabulous classes, too! Always something new blooming or going on!

Carrie-n-Kevin

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Fernwood. The trails were lovely, and we enjoyed so much of what we saw there. We spent a few hours here (about 4), walking around and eating lunch. The trails toward the back were quite beautiful, and if you are up for a long walk, you could keep going on the trails for much longer than we did. We LOVED the birdwatching area in the nature center. We were able to see a number of species at any one viewing, including a raccoon that enjoyed the food just as much!

800joes

We stumbled on Fernwood by accident. What a delightful find! We thoroughly enjoyed the gardens and woodland walks. The outside garden railway is outstanding. Next time through we will definitely stop in.

941katep

The only thing I disliked about Fernwood was leaving! It was so nice taking long walks and enjoying nature here. They have many acres to explore, and a beautiful place to be in if you're more comfortable seeing nature indoors. Inspired to do some ne things to my future home because of this place. Great staff as well!

nyaknd55

Fernwood is a place for all ages. The nature trails are wonderful to explore in all seasons! Our teenage granddaughters had such an wonderful afternoon there they wanted to go back. In addition there are all kinds of programs for various ages throughout the year. Presentations are available at a low cost. They have a gift shop and cafe- that has yummy treats. You will not be disappointed if you make a visit.

DebAE

We went to Fernwood Botanical Garden over Labor Day weekend. We really enjoyed walking along the trails though there wasn't a lot in bloom. The Railway Garden was my favorite with the trains running and the scale models of the local landmarks which were beautiful. I also really liked the stone building in the herb garden. In the nature center there is a great bird watching venue with chairs, binoculars and bird books with tons of bird feeders outside the windows.We walked around the main trails and down to the St. Joseph river; we did not do the arboretum or nature preserve. Maybe it was the time of year, but as we were walking we kept saying how it could be an amazing place but because not much was in bloom there wasn't as much to see. It also felt like some of the trails were overgrown and some upkeep was needed. The entire park is enormous, there only seemed to be a few people working and the café wasn't open; it felt a little deserted.All that said, we did really enjoy our time there. We'll have to go back at a different time of year and see if it has a different look.

gldave

This garden is a quiet retreat along the St. Joseph river between Niles, MI and Berrien Springs, MI. It has a nice visitors center and a childrens garden with a garden railroad. Paths with handicap access as well as more rustic hiking trails.

colleenw323

We took time out of all the 4th of July activities to check out Fernwood. It was a wonderful couple of hours. My grandson was enthralled by the Railway Garden that had realistic model trains with sounds. We walked around the grounds for a couple of hours and then had a fantastic lunch in the cafe. The service was great and they were very kind to the little guy. I would wear tennis shoes and bring a camera. A couple of hours is plenty of time to see the gardens. Don't forget the Nature Center. You can get an up close view of the birds and squirrels feeding. Enjoy!

Perrysflowergirl

Many good programs. Beautiful grounds and woods. I like walking along the river. My kids rush to the ponds to see the frogs. My favorite thing to do is take a long time walking and when you wear out, go eat in their little dinning room. They have great food.