Bloedel Reserve

47.70816, -122.54759

Bloedel Reserve | One of North America’s 10 Best Botanical Gardens

A beautiful forest garden that takes a couple of hours to walk through (the loop is approximately 3 miles). Reservations are required. The slots for the month open on the first of day of the month.

This giant forest garden was the retirement project of the Bloedels after Prentice Bloedel “reluctantly” became the heir to his father’s timber empire. As you will be educated when you read the pamphlet, he was a Yale man, earning entry to that school entirely on merit and not at all because his father was super rich. He then apparently became obsessed with the idea of nature healing the human spirit. He also apparently was one of the first in the timber industry to start the idea of sustainable logging – undoubtedly arriving at this idea before the other 26 logging magnates who also claim to be the first to come up with sustainable logging practices.

Regardless of the veracity of the PR pamphlets, he created an awesome garden that is worth visiting. Unlike so many, the Japanese garden captures the essence of a true Japanese garden. This is probably because it was created by an actual Japanese gardener. And the house, the trees, and the ponds are all gorgeous. Try to go on a weekday in order to truly avoid the crowds. You won’t be disappointed!