UCI Arboretum

So for one of my classes, there was an extra credit opportunity at the UCI Arboretum. And so my friend and I went here to prep up something for El Nino rainy season!
There are only 2 – 3 parking spots that are «free» to park here, and that’s inside the gate. So you have to make sure that the gate is open/​arboretum is open and then you hope that you can have the parking spots there: P. There is «overflow» parking in Lot 90, but you have to have $ 2/​hr parking or a parking permit from UCI to park there.
Welps. We walked in and to our right is a little barn which holds all the tools you need (hoes, rakes, shovels, etc). But you get to walk around the arboretum and look at the flora and the fauna that exists in there.
Our task was to take care of the drainage pipe and make sure the area around the pipe didn’t get flooded/​overfilled with water, when we could make sure that the water could be saved and put somewhere else, since California is in a drought. So we had to move some rocks and «move» some plants around. And dig holes. :P
The area is alright, check it out if you have time, but I thought of it as nothing special. Although, I did only see a little bit of it haha. xD

We attempted to visit on a Saturday at 10:00 a.m. There was a closed sign on the gate, which is extremely hard to find. There was a small typewritten sign of about a paragraph saying it was undergoing renovation, blah, blah, blah… and dated February 2015, some 8 months before our visit.
The website for this facility is a joke; no hours, no address, no nothing.
Despite all this, we sought it out because it was supposed to be ‘something to do’ in Orange County. It is in the ‘North Campus’ which is a depressing agglomeration of beat up old trailers that have been adapted to office and administrative uses. Nothing is well maintained, there are no signs, no parking directions, nothing.
Having attended many arboretums, as this is an interest of ours, I can tell you that, even without gaining entrance, you should not waste your time…
It’s terrible.
So my advice to UCI is to either do it or don’t do it. Having a half baked facility is a joke.
Extremely disappointed

It is definitely small, and it is definitely not «tidied up» like other cookie-​cutter arboretums. (I saw a Googler commented it as «under-​funded:» well said.) To think that I have to find a spot to kill time (aside from loitering in shopping areas or adding liquid burden to your stomach in coffee shops) for waiting someone finishing their seminars in Irvine’s scattered biz centers: it was the perfect getaway. If you are near John Wayne Airport or the office buildings nearby, and you are tired of seeing the very unimpressive landscaping under your office center during your coffee break time (before 3pm, sadly… hence half star off for the hours): please come and learn about the succulent families at this rustic spot. You won’t regret it. My other half star off goes to some missing plant labels here and there…

Out of the 4 years I was at UCI, I’ve only been to the UCI Arboretum once. And only because it was required for a class. I wasn’t too impressed with it, as it looked like it’s still undergoing lots of maintenance. I know that the arboretum is a great ecosystem for birds and other animals and such, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.
Although it is free to go to the arboretum, you still need to pay for parking. Damn you, UCI. Charging for parking every chance you get.

A cool pace to wander around, take photos and enjoy a diverse collection of plants.

I get the feeling those who have written poor reviews about the UCI Arboretum – comparing it to the Fullerton Arboretum – don’t understand that the UCI Arboretum aims to focus on Mediterranean flora. If you’ve ever taken one of Dr. Bowler’s classes, he’ll tell you how much ecological restoration the Arboretum has undergone, and is still undergoing, since the land was purchased in its damaged state from IRWD or Irvine Company, I forget which.
Though native Californian habitat doesn’t appear as visually vibrant as lush as the rest of manicured Irvine, you’ll recognize the wide variety of plant and animal species if you do your research. Particularly in the spring, young bulrushes, and even the sprouting invasive fennel, add a lot of visual color to the riparian areas.
I love coming here to go birding, and I bring my camera as well. Springtime brings many waterfowl to nest in the ponds. I saw plenty of mallard and coot ducklings when I visited last month. I’ve also seen the great blue heron, green heron, snowy egret, great egret, black-​necked stilt, glossy ibis, least tern (endangered!), avocet, mourning dove, red-​winged blackbird, yellow-​headed blackbird, western kingbird, tree swallow, and Pacific pond turtle (which Dr. Bowler will eagerly tell you that the largest meta-​population lives in the Arboretum).
I’ve heard sightings of many other species there as well, so bring your Sibley’s and enjoy!

This is the most pathetic excuse for a university arboretum that I’ve ever seen! And yes, they do gouge you for parking. Don’t bother.

Honestly speaking, it wasn’t that bad BUT I was only here to practice some photography anyway. But for hiking, the scenery is just somewhat kinda short… then just dried bushes after.
The park is definitely free but the parking was not. The parking vending machine was not user friendly. I ended up paying $ 10 (for an all-​day pass), BUMMER!
My review was short as my visit here was short too! But hopefully you’ll like the pictures I took. :)
P. S. I do agree with Donna in her review that Fullerton Arboretum is one of the great ones to visit, free parking & entrance… just have to donate $ 3 per person for the upkeep.

We actually came here b y mistake. We were looking for the San Joaquin Marsh but made a wrong turn. But with the current construction at the Marsh, the walk at the arboretum was much more interesting and exciting. I enjoyed this place a lot.

The description for the UCI Arboretum says hiking, but I think its more of a walking/​research trip.
There is a lot of vegetation, some wildlife, (birds, insects, are of what I saw), and a green house of various plants. There’s quite a few lakes, some to even be complementary but with fewer water capacity in the other, so I’ve been told.
The parking is first come, first serve, so it’s better to get there early, as there is only like 11 near the Arboretum, and the rest is near the other buildings.
As little and simple as the Arboretum seems, its a little piece of nature nestled in a urban city, so it compensates for the real thing.

This place is the best!!!

I guess it’s all about timing. Boss and I had a great experience at the UCI Arboretum.
Frankly, I didn’t even know it existed. Then while glancing through the Daily Pilot, I noticed a plant sale at the arboretum. Includes Free admission (standard) and FREE PARKING (hello!). These plant sales take place once a month it seems — at least during the summer. From my understanding the sales are more frequent during growing seasons.
So we checked out the sale, and we found some amazing deals on exotic plants for our garden. Prices are SIGNIFICANTLY lower than any of the surrounding nurseries or home stores.
To top it off, the volunteers who work there are all bonafide plant enthusiasts and are experts in Southern California florae. They can help you with any questions you may have, be they about the plants on sale or landscaping help and so on.
The plants are grown onsite, and the sales benefit the arboretum. It’s a pretty spectacular benefit.
After putting away our purchases, we decided to stroll around the gardens. We didn’t end up walking through the entire park, as the sun started to blast through the marine layer. There is a bench near to the main greenhouses where you can sit and take in a beautiful vista spanning the entire UCI campus. It’s gorgeous.
While certainly not as extensive as some other local gardens, the UCI Arboretum does offer some unique species to view — many plants we’ve never seen at these other gardens. And it is exciting to think about all of the space for future expansion.
Check out their website and plan to visit during the next plant sale. And take your time walking around.

I promised that I would keep you informed as Chris and I trek the Arboretums of various Universities and here it the one for UC Irvine.
Th Arboretum has been here since the 60’s (around the time that I was born) so why does it look like it isn’t over a couple years old and drastically UNDER developed? This arboretum is said to host 12 acreas of gardens however, just the very beginning is developed.
I am putting this in my things to do for free section, and the park is free however the parking is not. Be cautioned that the parking here at this University will robe you of your money. We paid for an hour but when it spit out our ticket… we got a bit over 30 minutes for parking… The hubby and I looked around at all the signage that said that parking permits needed and harsh 24 hour patrol checked the times. Maybe they should check their thieving machine since it stole 20 minutes of our time… not a good way to start a relaxing nature walk.
Come to find out, we didn’t need the hour anyway, we walked the whole thing… even the undeveloped dead sections in under 20 minutes. The back side is nothing but grass that leads into wooded area but you cannot get to this section anyway. The gravel walkways were over grown with weeds (do not touch these, most were itch weeds that would break you out into a rash for days!).
Some of the blame might lay in the fact that we did this park in mid May almost close to the end of Spring (there was a lot of dead areas that probably needed to be cleared) but honestly, the plants that they DID have were growing nicely, they just weren’t very exciting.
There were no ducks, no wildlife (except for lizards), no shade, no wondering paths (these paths ended in no where, forcing you to turn around and go back the way you came), no bubbling brooks, bridges, ponds… not much of anything. They did have a gazebo and a few benches to sit on but the pictures that I have added shows about all that they have.
In comparison to the arboretums that we have visited in the past several weeks of our travels this is what I find:
1. Fullerton Arboretum — Busy with people and here is why — It’s BIG, take a water bottle because there is good walking trails throughout and you will want to spend hours here. Better yet, pack a picnic, grab a blanket and take the kiddies and picnic around the ponds. This place has it all — bubbling brooks, ponds, tons of wildlife, shaded pathways that trail off to some secret hideaway and then trail back to a turtle filled pond, the sound of nature and birds is something to stop, close your eyes and enjoy. This place rates #1 in our arboretum adventures and it is absolutely free!
2. CSULB Japanese Gardens — This one is a place that attracts people as well. This rates second even though it is the smallest ever. The fact that it is so well maintained and zin. You can take the kids and not worry about them tiring from the walk since it is basically a small circle. Everyone will enjoy the pond full of fish who welcome you with open mouths awaiting a fresh morsel of fish food that can be purchased for a quarter. The grounds are spectacularly kept and you better take a camera because there just isn’t anywhere here that isn’t «picture-​perfect»! This is also free (yes even parking when you go on the weekend)
3. UC Irvine Arboretum — Not one person was here besides us and here is why — it’s small, unkept and really not worth the $ 2 bucks we had to pay to park. Plus, the parking machine is a thief!
So there you have it — our findings of the local University arboretums. If any of you know of any others out there worth seeing… let me know and I will include it on our next trek.

After checking out CSULB’s Japanese Gardens and Fullerton College’s 5 star Arboretum I wanted to see how UCI’s compared. Well… it blows and blows big time.
First… You are required to pay to park in lot 90. It’s $ 2 for 1 hour. At 12:50pm we parked and I stuck $ 2 bucks into the machine. It spit out a ticket saying it’s 12:30pm and it expires at 1:30pm. WTF??? So right off the bat I just got robbed of 20 min. I complained to the Arboretum employee and she could care less.
Luckily 40 min is way more than enough time to see this pathetic place. From what we could find that was alive it was barely alive. Brown sagging dying cactus… dead grass… dead flowers… over grown walking trails full of weeds… I think the most thriving plant here was the dandelion. If you like dirt though this is the place for you. Fields and fields of dirt. Yippee!
Save your time and money and don’t bother with this place. Fullerton Arboretum is a wonderful place, Irvine should be ashamed of themselves.