San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden

When completed within the next decade, the dog-friendly San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden will comprise 150 acres devoted to ecosystems and plants of the world’s five Mediterranean climate zones.

Other planned amenities include 50 miles of paved trails; restaurants and cafes with a Mediterranean theme; a 3,000-seat amphitheater; demonstration and event gardens; public art, sustainable buildings for research; and creative modes of transportation to access views within the garden’s 500-foot elevation variance.

For now, a 2-acre, dog-friendly Preview Garden and a Discovery Trail gives a taste of things to come. The garden is in El Chorro Regional Park, a hilly, 700-acre preserve with amenities including a campground and a fenced, off-leash dog park.