Fodor's Expert Review Garvan Woodland Gardens

On 210 acres of woodland bordering Lake Hamilton (accessible by car or boat), this site was clear-cut for timber a century ago, and it wasn't until the mid-1950s that it was considered as a possible homesite by Verna Cook Garvan and her husband, Francis Patrick Garvan Jr. Instead, Verna devoted 40 years to creating the footprint for what has become her legacy—a world-class botanical garden, complete with thousands of species of heritage flora and fauna, a series of unique bridges, waterfalls and walking paths, a children's adventure garden, plus a magnificent wood-and-glass chapel and complementary pavilion designed by the renowned architectural firm of E. Fay Jones.