Botanical Gates of Paradise — Attraction in Austin

This was tough... I've been to at least 15 botanical gardens in my life and this unfortunately was not the best for 3 reasons. Parking, they have a sign claiming the lot is full, you then park (as a non local) in the closest parking lot you see (pay $7, hike up a hill) and come through the lot that was "full" to an array of parking spots.... Need better signage and instruction for the lot at the back entrance that was WIDE OPEN! The water features, the bigger water feature had a few fun falls. However there were maybe 2 fish total in the pond, barely any pond plants and no big architectural art or pieces anywhere. It was plain, boring, and unkept. The different waterways/levels to keep the pond going were filled with debris and yuck from not being cleaned often enough. Where are the flowers and staff??? For a botanical garden all that was "in bloom" was day lilies. Now I know this is TX and the climate can literally kill but!!! Where is the staff during experience to provide direction and fun facts??? Where (or honestly who!) are the Horticulturalists that do the garden design so every section always have something in bloom???? The entire garden honestly reminded me of going to someone's house whose mom picked out the plants years ago and just put in a ton of purple cone flowers for butterflies, lilies and Irises because they are easy and green shrubbery to fill the space. Mind you, this was an $8 experience but, I felt I got a way more fun and visually tantalizing experience going to the Hill Country Water Garden greenhouse instead! And that's a greenhouse for shopping... Plan smart to save your time, money, and sweat. P.s. the cactus garden was pitiful! Small plants, small...

These insanely detailed gates take rococo to the next level. Largest limestone sculpture in TX holding what are probably the most extravagantly styled gates you are likely to ever see. The other gates of paradise (Lorenzo Ghiberti, Italy) have more gold but otherwise don't hold a candle to these totally overlooked , unused gates at the rear end of the Zilker Botanical garden. Not even a plaque to the artist, the singular David Santos of Dripping Springs and the Pacific Northwest, who left sculpture, metalwork and art entirely to purse airborne...

My wife and I did a quick road trip to Austin and stumbled across this botanical garden while looking for things to do. We really enjoyed walking the trails. They were clean and had some cool themed areas, so it didn’t felt boring or too long. The person at the ticket entrance counter was super friendly and gave us all the info we needed. Also, both the indoor and outdoor restrooms were really clean, which we appreciated. Overall, it was a really nice spot to check out...