Iowa Arboretum & Gardens — Attraction in Iowa

I'm going to write two reviews here. One as my perspective as a special needs mom and the other as the mom to my typical functioning kids.

First, as a special needs mom I would give it 1.5 stars. We drove three hours and paid $50 for our kids to enjoy a day trip here because they are touted as accessible. We're always looking for things that all of our kids, including our wheelchair dependent child, will enjoy. We hoped this would be one. It was not. The man in the welcome center assured me that the paths in the gardens were fully accessible.

The main paths are. But she couldn't enjoy any of the gardens, including the children's garden because her chair would get stuck. So our family had to split up a lot, one of us sitting with her, while the other parent took the other kids to see the gardens. I held out hope the play area would be better. It was not. The treehouses do have ramps, which would be fun for kids with a little more independence.

The ground cover is woodchips, and there's a slight drop from the path onto the woodchips, which is not easy on a wheelchair. It was hard to get her chair over to the wheelchair swing. Which was locked. There was no signage to indicate that we should call to request to have it unlocked or why it's locked or anything. Another parent went and asked someone to come unlock it. Because of the woodchips and not having a better method to get from the ground to the swing, outside of a small rug, it was difficult to get the wheelchair on the swing. There is also a zipline that could be used by someone like my daughter, theoretically, but the straps are too loose with no real way to tighten them, so that rendered that useless to her as well.

From the perspective of a special needs mom, it's a half-hearted attempt at best and they should definitely refrain from making it a selling point for visiting. It's not accessible, and that's okay, not every place has to be. But, be honest about that. I don't feel like they're honest about that at all.

Now, from the perspective of a mom to typically functioning kids, too. Great. Five stars. There's a lot to see and discover. They loved seeing all of the different plants and themed gardens and made notes of plants to look up later. It was beautiful, peaceful and enjoyable. I like that you can spend as much time as you want and there's so much to see.

The play area was a lot of fun for them, allowing for open-ended, risk taking play that is missing from a lot of playgrounds today. They loved every bit of it. There was so much to see and discover. If you only have typically functioning kids, this was a great...

My daughter rented a room here for a small gathering for her graduation party. What a wonderful experience! The room and table set up was perfect. There were icicle lights along the ceiling that added an elegant touch to the atmosphere. We had access to a full kitchen that really helped with set up and clean up. The bathrooms were close by and clean. During the party we could look out the large windows and watch all sorts of birds come to the bird feeders. Picnic tables were set up outside and during the party we even sat out for a bit and then went for a walk along the path to look at all the flowers and plants. The staff was very friendly and accommodating! We had a great...

Events room:

Wow! We rented this room for 4 hours on a Saturday (11:30-3:30) to host a garden tea party themed baby shower. It’s was extremely reasonably priced ($30/hr!) which was the best of any rate I found in the Ames area. Jenna was friendly and helpful, as were the other staff who greeted us upon arrival. The room was cozy and comfortable. The attached kitchen made hosting a breeze, and the pre-lit backdrop with sheer curtains made for a beautiful and easy photo op. Bathrooms so close by and it’s mostly private area from day-goers. Thank you so much, Iowa Arboretum & Gardens, for making this day a breeze for an out of town party thrower...