ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden

Gardens of Fun and Beauty.

The Rio Grande Botanic Garden at the ABQ BioPark is located on 52 acres of land, nestled between the Rio Grande River and the Albuquerque Aquarium. It includes a 10,000 square-foot glass conservatory, a 10-acre Heritage Farm, the PNM Butterfly Pavilion, a Japanese Garden, a model train display, and a whimsical Children’s Fantasy Garden. The Botanic Garden embraces the BioPark’s mission to demonstrate and celebrate the horticultural and agricultural traditions of the Rio Grande Valley. It opened to the public on December 5, 1996.

Families are greeted at the entrance to the children's Fantasy Garden by a huge friendly dragon, inviting you into the "castle." Once across the castle's moat, you will experience life as a tiny being inside a giant garden:  ride the ants, walk through the carrots, play inside a pumpkin, climb a potato, and listen to the buzzing of a bee. A maze and sanded play area round out the fun.

Exit the Fantasy Garden into formal walled gardens that illustrate traditional Spanish-Moorish and English landscape design and feature in-laid tile, ironwork, plantings and water features. Contemporary glass conservatories showcase plants of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of North America in one wing and plants from the world's Mediterranean climates in the other.

Swans glide across the central lake near the festival green and stage where many special events, including our annual summer concert series, take place. Weddings are held year round at the Garden.

On the south side of the central lake, follow the path beside the model train exhibit to gaze at idyllic minature towns and landscaping. The path will lead you to the fluttering world of the PNM Butterfly Pavilion where you may roam with numerous species of butterflies during warm weather. Just across from the pavilion, a new Insectarium and dragonfly pond are currently under development. 

At the north side of the Botanic Garden, the unique Heritage Farm features an adobe farmhouse, vineyard, heirloom and commercial apple orchards, field crops, small and large vegetable gardens, and farm animals and equipment. The adobe animal barn is home to a pair of Percheron draft horses, Alpine goats, Hampshire pigs, a Jersey cow, Churro sheep and Dominique chickens. 

At the northern edge of the Botanic Garden, you will also find the tranquil beauty of the Sasebo Japanese Garden. Designed by Toru Tanaka, an accomplished landscape architect who trained under the late Kenzo Ogata, the Japanese Garden provides a space for peace and reflection. 

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Admission & Park Hours

Regular Prices

Single Admission / Combo Admission

• Adult (13-64): $12.50 / $20
• Senior (65+): $5.50 / $10
• Child (3-12): $4 / $6
  Children under 3 are free.

New Mexico Resident Prices

Single Admission / Combo Admission

• Adult (13-64): $9 / $15
• Senior (65+): $4.50 / $8
• Child (3-12): $4 / $6
  Children under 3 are free.

Combo Admission to the Botanic Garden, Aquarium and Zoo
Same day combo tickets to visit all three facilities are sold until noon every day. Combo tickets include unlimited train rides on the Rio Line, which travels between the Aquarium/Garden and the Zoo, and the Thunderbird Express, which makes a loop around the Zoo. Combo tickets may be purchased exclusively from cashiers located at the front entrances of the Aquarium, Botanic Garden and Zoo
 

Park Hours

9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Sunday.
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Saturday and Sunday, June through August.

Please Note:

• Tickets are sold every day from 9 am to one-half hour before closing. No one is admitted after this time.

• The Rio Grande Botanic Garden is closed on January 1, Thanksgiving Day and December 25.

• The Rio Line Train from the Botanic Garden/Aquarium to the Zoo is closed on Mondays. No combo tickets to the facilities will be sold on Mondays. Trains run as usual Tuesday through Sunday.

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Guest Services

Persons with Disabilities, Rental Wagons, Wheelchairs and Other Services

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Location and Directions

The Rio Grande Botanic Garden is at 2601 Central Avenue NW, which is at the intersection of Central and New York Avenues, just east of the Central Avenue Bridge which crosses the Rio Grande River.

Visit Google Maps »

Take Central Avenue to New York Avenue. Head north on New York Avenue and look immediately to your left for the entrance to the Botanic Garden.

For additional directions and locations information, please call 311 or visit
http://www.cabq.gov/biopark/garden/index.html#LHO