Nearby: Family Free Day: Scaly Safari at the SLO Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden waives admission for a Scaly Safari family day

At El Chorro, over the grade from Morro Bay. The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden hosts its almost-monthly Family Free Day on Sunday, August 9 from 10 AM to 2 PM, and August’s theme is Scaly Safari, a celebration of the garden’s scalier residents. Garden admission is waived for the day, the event is all ages, and dogs on leash are welcome, so the garden’s own advice applies: pack a picnic and stay a while.

The Children’s Garden runs crafts and educational activities on the reptile theme, and the rest of the grounds are open to wander: the main Display Garden, the Fire Safe garden, and the hill hike up to the Human Sundial, where kids become the gnomon and their shadow tells the time. The retail nursery is open for business too, stocked with the garden’s self-propagated native plants suited to the Central Coast’s Mediterranean climate, worth a browse for anyone rethinking a yard for the dry months.

One practical note from the garden: El Chorro Regional Park charges a $5 vehicle entry fee at the gate even on free-admission days, and cash speeds up the line. The garden sits on Dairy Creek Road inside the park, about 15 minutes from Morro Bay on Highway 1 toward San Luis Obispo, an easy Sunday run for a morning that combines a picnic, a hike, and something genuinely educational without anyone noticing the education part.

Please note: there’s a $5 fee to enter El Chorro park. Having cash will speed up park entry!

For more family days and Nearby Happenings along the corridor, see what is coming up on the event calendar.