UBC Botanical Garden — Attraction in Electoral Area A

I appreciate your efforts keeping this garden beautiful. However the management is poor, lacking common sense.

We visited today when there was a wedding there, if you have a special event there that will IMPACT visitors and their experience, you need to have a big notice, there was no sign at entrance or warning when we got tickets.

We got interrupted by a guy there that “wedding here, don’t go this way, don’t go that way, or remember to come back this way… etc” ok we respected that, but no apologies or thanking us for doing that, ok fine we want to support the wedding. But on top of that, he said “no pictures here”, when we were literally 500m away from the wedding (on our path where we paid money to visit, walk and take pics). It’s ridiculous that it is a public space, no human’s face was revealed there from a long distance and we BOUGHT a ticket to visit a park where we can take pics of literally whatever the hell we want. Don’t make it like a national event lol

Obviously our visit to the fav part of the garden was ruined that day, we tried to make our way to the other side and …nope, “sorry this part of the garden is also blocked due to the wedding” ?!. Alright, we tried to visit a nearby spot maybe 20 steps away from the ticket gate before we leave, and an old lady chased us and yelled “sorry we are closed at 4.30pm”. And it was JUST 4.13pm, and it could just take us 5 mins to finish the last part of our visit (where every else was blocked). We aimed to finish and leave the garden at 4.20pm…

You know what, when a business is closed or advertised to close at 4.30pm, it closes at 4.30pm SHARP. You can’t stop your guests from using the service at 4.13pm when they paid to visit till 4.30pm, of course as long as they’re out by 4.29pm. When we bought the ticket, the person said you guys have 1 hour, it means UNTIL 4.30pm.

You can remind the guests about the closing time, but you CAN’T close the service more than 15 mins early and kick them out so you can end your shift earlier.

Not to mention way bigger and beautiful parks in Vancouver you can visit free of charge, but here you pay and the service is very...

Lots of beautiful scenery with plants you could not easily find in other gardens or park sites. The tree walk is a must, as it is a fun experience, even for those like myself who are not the best with heights. The bridges were more shaky than my similar tree walk experience at Capilano Suspension Bridge, but the shakiness kind of added adrenaline and made it more fun. The cactus garden was a particular highlight to me, as well as the amphitheatre that is walking distance to it where you could test out the acoustics in it. Overall, a lovely nature walk in the botanical garden where you can admire different aspects of nature while also learning about it.

The park closed at 5pm on the day I visited and I unfortunately didn't know or notice any signage (something I'll keep in mind on my next visit). Despite not knowing the closing time, I was actually trying to leave since I was hungry. However, I got lost in the large garden and got to the exit by the parking lot around 5:10. I saw some confused and also frustrated visitors in the parking lot who were stuck because the parking lot gate closed right at 5pm. Luckily I took the bus to the garden. However, I was a spectator to their exchange with a staff member in the parking lot.

The staff member did not seem very kind nor helpful to the other visitors' understandable situation. She just kept rudely repeating they should have left earlier because the gate closes at 5pm, instead of being empathetic to them and letting their car out as they had already continuously apologized for the inconvenience and just wanted to get out of her hair. There's not a lot of staff you can interact with or ask questions in the garden. There was also never a warning about the closing time or gate so this is not a great way to end your visit.

Witnessing this negative interaction I could have very likely been in is why I am giving three instead...

Peaceful and enjoyable walk with some beautiful trees but not many flowers in June. Theres only one small garden area with some blooming wildflowers and succulents. Theres a cool food garden that grows fruits and vegs to feed the homeless. Admission is 10 bucks for adults $20 if you want to do the treetop canopy walk across a series of swaying suspension bridges. The best part about the visit was the canopy walk which went higher then descended again. Takes about 20 minutes to walk through it. Very safe and suspended via steel cables attached to light but sturdy aluminum framing. Netting and ropes for people to hold on to. Dont jump or run or it will sway. My 4 yo daughter loved it and wanted to do the walk 2x. The gate is locked and you need to enter a 4 digit PIN then turn the handle UP to unlock it. They give out the PIN number at the entrance after you pay extra fee. The garden is free for UBC students and kids under 5years old. Great way to spend 2 to 3 hours. Free parking up to 3 hours for visitors but you do need to enter your plates at the pay station. Wheelchair accessible paths and 3 bathrooms inside as well as 2 drinking fountains. Map not necessary as roads are marked...