School Tours

Discover the miracle of the butterfly life cycle.

Explore a historic garden and wildlife sanctuary through nine acres of winding paths and flowering meadows.

Open by appointment April - October.

Please review school tour information before booking a tour.

School Tour Information

Overview

Enhance your visit with extra “Hints and Tips” at the bottom of this page.

Self-Guided Tour

  • April - October

  • Wednesday - Saturday

  • Start times: 10 am, 11:30 am, 1 pm, or 2:30 pm

  • Duration: 60-90 minutes

  • 25 student maximum per appointment (groups of 10+ contact before scheduling).

  • Requires a gate code to enter

Explore the garden trails with an educational brochure and map. This is an entirely self-guided experience.

Please print our interactive tour brochure before your visit (visit our Printables page).

Guided Tour

  • April - June

  • Wednesday - Thursday

  • Start times: 10 am or 11 am

  • Duration: 60 minutes

  • 25 students maximum per appointment

  • Requires a gate code to enter

Guests will be greeted at our information kiosk by a Hallberg Docent (tour guide).

Choose your guided option:

  • Guided by Docent (second grade and older) - walk the gardens with an informative guide for the entire duration of your tour. Printable resources are not required for tours guided by a docent.

  • Garden Host (all ages)  - An informative talk by an HBG Docent followed by a self-guided exploration led by teacher/parent chaperones. An HBG interactive brochure (includes a map) is highly recommended. Please print tour brochures before your visit (visit our Printables page).

Details

Hours of operation

April - October, we offer tours by appointment with different availability for guided or self- guided experiences (See tour options below). Spring tour scheduling opens as early as August of the previous year. A gate code is required to enter the gardens.

  • Self-Guided Tours: April - October, Wednesday - Saturday, 10am - 4pm

  • Guided Tours: April - June, Wednesday - Friday, start times 10am or 11am.

Tour Duration

To walk the trails at a moderate pace averages 45 minutes to an hour.

  • Guided Tours: 1 hour (plus time available for snacks after tour). Arrive early to use the restroom and get settled. We like to begin Guided Tours on time.

  • Self-Guided Tours: 1 hour and 30 minutes. Appointment time is typically a little flexible. Please give us a heads up if you plan to stay longer, arrive early, etc.

Visitor Capacity

25 student maximum per appointment. We request 1 adult per 6 students. With a 31 person grand total maximum (includes students and adults).

Pricing

All tours are donation-based. Donations can be made online or onsite before, after, or during your visit (cash, check, Venmo). Invoice sen per request.

We suggest $2-$5 per student.

Parking

Be ready to describe your mode of transportation before signing up. Visit our Printables page to view garden/parking maps.

  • Garden parking is limited per appointment - 8 cars maximum (please carpool if available).

  • Public (street) parking is available for extra or large vehicles with a 5 minute walk into the gardens.

  • Bus parking instruction will be sent in tour confirmation email.

Garden Amenities

  • Drinking water is not provided.

  • Picnic Tables: Three large picnic tables are available near the information kiosk at the entrance. Students often love to run in the apple orchard along the picnic tables (orchard along garden parking is not apart of HBG).

  • Trails: Most of the trails navigate dirt paths on a moderately sloped hillside. Area near entrance/restroom is flat and covered with pressed gravel—subject to minor bumps/holes from gopher activity. We are not currently ADA certified, but working on accessibility near the garden entrance each year.

  • Restroom: We have one ADA portable toilet near the information kiosk. Path to restroom is pressed gravel—subject to minor bumps/holes from gopher activity.Trails are dirt paths and not currently certified as wheelchair accessible.

  • Pollinator Plant Stand: During tours we offer a small selection of plants for sale at a self check out station at our shade house (cash, card, check, Venmo). Visit “Our Nursery” page to see the full list of plants available at our annual plant sales. If you are with an organization developing a habitat project please contact for special requests.

  • Gift Shop: Our Gift Shop in the Pipevine Theater will remain closed until further notice (Barn is under restoration). A Fold-out Butterfly guide is for sale at our information kiosk for $10 (cash, check or Venmo).

  • Please visit our FAQs page for more information.

    Continue scrolling for “Hints, Tips & Resources”

Hints, Tips, & Resources:

Before you visit:

  • Tour and Classroom Activities can be found on our Printables page. The more you teach your class about the butterfly life cycle and the story of Hallberg Butterfly Gardens before their visit the more your students will get out of their experience. If you don’t have our book “A Class Trip to Miss Hallberg’s Butterfly Garden” you can pick one up during your visit. In the meantime consider sharing one of our short educational videos with your class before they visit to increase their excitement to explore the gardens!

  • Butterfly Activity: April to June is the most popular time to visit when the large swallowtail butterflies are most active. Later in the year we see more species of butterflies and life cycle stages (eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis) but less abundance of large butterflies in flight. Plan for success: visit our Butterfly Information page for current activity and to learn about the butterfly life cycle.

Brochures (print before arrival):

  • We recommend our Interactive Children’s Brochure for the “Self-Guided” and “Garden Host” Tour options. We also offer a standard Self-Guided Brochure. Guided Tours do not need to bring printed materials.

Activities (print before arrival):

  • Extra guidance around paths is a good idea as students are distracted when holding the activity and not focused on footing while walking paths. The Search and Find activity can also serve as a memory game. Leave the printouts behind as you walk through the garden and see what students can find based on memory.

  • Butterfly Stone Scavenger Hunt: Butterflies and their host plants are painted on stones through out the gardens. How many will you find?

Gate code:

Be sure to have the gate code ready before your arrival. Press the code firm and fast to ensure the gate opens. Be sure to press the # key before the numbers (info is sent in your tour reminder email). An HBG team member is not always available to assist at the gate upon your arrival.

Parking:

  • Garden parking: After entering the Gardens gate, turn right and pull off the side of the gravel road at the end of the apple orchards. Parking signs will offer direction. This is a working orchard, and parking is limited to the designated location.

  • Street parking:  Available along Oak Grove Avenue with a 5-minute walk into the gardens. Please pay attention to posted street parking regulations.

Looking for more information?

Visit our FAQs page.

Please do not hesitate to contact us, but keep in mind we are a small team. We generally take 1-5 days to respond.

Info@hallbergbutterflygardens.org or leave us a voicemail at (707)823-3420