Afternoon at the Gardens at Heather Farm

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Photo taken by Anna

On a warm winter afternoon (and by warm, I mean 61 ºF/ 16 ºC), Anna and I brought my son to Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek. I'm very happy that we went here because I've always wanted to visit (but never had a chance before, thanks to COVID-19). The park is impressive! It's one of the bigger urban parks I have visited (the biggest, so far, is the Presidio of San Francisco at 1500 acres).



We intended to stroll along the easy path, just going around the pond. However, we quickly changed course when we discovered that there's a lake we could explore (and we did). While Anna and I enjoyed the view of the lake and the sounds of the wildlife, though, my son was more interested in staring at his stroller canopy than at the ducks floating on the lake. 


Following the path around the lake

After touring part of the lake, we headed to the Gardens at Heather Farms. It actually is a non-profit organisation that runs a garden that is accessible (and free) to the public. Since we visited in the winter, we did not see many plants in full bloom. 

Why I get to visit gardens in the winter, I do not know.

Anyway, there are nine areas to visit in the garden. We were able to visit the Rockery Garden, Daffodil Hill, and the Cowden Rose Garden. Among the gardens we visited, my favourite is the Children's Garden. It is surrounded by a white picket fence and has pergolas at its entry ways.


Entrance to the Children's Garden

Upon entering, we first noticed a post with directions to different magical places: the Shire, Narnia, Wonderland, 100-Acre Wood, Hogwarts, and Mr McGregor's Garden. All these places are found in the literary masterpieces for children: Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter, and Tales of Peter Rabbit.



This charming garden even has a replica of a hobbit tunnel, which I'm sure kids love to crawl under. When my son is a bit bigger, I'm sure that he'll enjoy this (I hope that this feature will still be present in a few years).

The Children's Garden was our last stop during our Heather Farm Park visit. The sun was getting low in the sky and setting behind the mountains. This meant that the temperature was starting to drop; I didn't want the wee one to be outdoors when the temperature went down drastically so we bundled him up further and returned to the parking lot.

We'll be back next time. There's still a lot to see and to explore.

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