Lily Pond

Beautiful. What a San Diego gem. Perfect amount of grass around for a pleasant picnic. Family friendly and dog friendly if your pup is well behaved.

I love coming here and watching the koi. It’s something I always do when I come to Balboa Park. My son gets a kick out of running back and forth searching out the ‘giant’ ones. The Lily Pond is one of the prettiest and most recognizable areas of the park. Every time I go I see tourists or women dressed to nines posing for photos in the front. It always makes me chuckle.
I love seeing kids on field trips enjoying the pond, it makes me smile. And of course turtle and duck watching is ideal at the pond. If you have a budding photographer, this is a great spot to bring them. My little guy loves taking photos here.
I know a lot of people think the pond is just a place to visit on the way to the Botanical Building, but I kinda see it the other way. I sometimes just go in there to get it over with first, then come back out so I can enjoy the pond properly.

Between the perfect weather, the fish and the ducks, I could have spent hours at the Lily Pond just taking in the sites. If you like nature, small animals that live or hang out in the water and ascetically pleasing things, the Lily Pond is a must-​see on your visit to Balboa Park. You could read my review, look at my pictures, or better yet, just go see it yourself.

The Botanical Building in Balboa Park is probably the most photographed location in San Diego, and it’s mostly due to the beautiful Lily Pond. Located in front of the building, this pond is home to a number of koi, a few turtles, and even a couple ducks that rest here during the day.
I’m glad to see the lilies and other plants making a comeback after what those hooligans in that ill-​planned water gun fight last summer did when they tore up the area. Given the public outcry over the desecration of a local landmark, I don’t think they’ll be doing that again (hopefully).

Would be 5 stars were it not for some hooligans who tore it up months ago.
There are a few koi (not sure if they survived or if they are a new batch), no turtles to be found, and nary a lily located in the pond. The grass is doing quite nicely but there are still plenty of rebuilding barracades and signage up.
It never ceases to shock me how people will absolutely destroy something that doesn’t belong to them.

This is really a beautiful place to sit and view the scenes. The Lily Pond as it is known has quite the variety of lilies throughout and actually some lotus plants too. There are several large koi (Japanese fish) and 1000’s of small tiny fish, possibly baby koi?!
The pond is directly in front of the Botanical Building along El Prado.
A few things I learned on a history tour in Balboa Park that this pond was used for military training during World War I and World War II!