Skip to content
BusinessesGrow
Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, WI

Photo: Chief-O, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sport & OutdoorLocal GemDate NightFree

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

3330 Atwood Ave · Madison, WI

Why you should go…

Olbrich Botanical Gardens spreads 16 acres of outdoor gardens along Starkweather Creek near Lake Monona in Madison. You can stroll the Sunken Garden with its 80-foot reflecting pool, a rose garden, a rock garden and the Thai Garden, whose sala was a gift from the government of Thailand and the Thai chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. The Bolz Conservatory, a 50-foot glass pyramid, holds tropical plants, a waterfall and birds year-round.

  • #botanical garden
  • #conservatory
  • #thai pavilion
  • #rose garden
  • #madison

Good to know

General sport & outdoor guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Weather calls the shots

    Check the forecast the morning of and keep an indoor backup in your pocket for the day it turns.

  • Shoes, water, sun cover

    The three things that decide whether you last the whole outing or cut it short after an hour.

  • Parking and launches fill early

    On a nice weekend, lots and trailheads are often full by mid-morning.

  • Daylight shrinks in shoulder season

    Spring and fall visits need an earlier start than the same trip in July.

What's around here?

The closest stops to Olbrich Botanical Gardens, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Eat & Drink
    Foodie Favorite

    New Glarus Brewing Company

    Free

    Wisconsin's hometown craft brewery, maker of Spotted Cow, with a tasting room, gift shop and free self-guided tour of its Riverside brewery.

    24 mi awaySwitch it up: Eat & Drink

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    Cave of the Mounds

    $25–$50

    Take a guided walk through a lit limestone cave full of stalactites, soda straws, helictites and colorful flowstone.

    25 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Outdoor Adventure

    Devil's Lake State Park

    Under $25

    Hike 500-foot quartzite bluffs above a 360-acre lake, swim from the beaches and scramble up to Balanced Rock.

    31 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Circus World

    Under $25

    A National Historic Landmark on the original Ringling Bros. winter quarters, with circus history exhibits and live big top shows.

    33 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Taliesin

    $50+

    Tour Frank Lloyd Wright's own home and studio on a 600-acre estate in the hills of Wisconsin's Driftless Area.

    37 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Attractions
    Quirky Fun

    The House on the Rock

    $25–$50

    Walk through a house built atop a rock column, the 218-foot Infinity Room and an indoor carousel of 269 animals and 20,000 lights.

    40 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions