RECREATION
Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden
38 acres of native plants, canyon views and Catalina history, just a mile and a half from downtown Avalon.
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Explore the Garden
Hours: Open daily, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Admission: Adults $16.84 | Seniors 55+ $11.41 | Students $11.41 | Children 5–12 $8.15 | Children under 5, military and family, veterans, and Conservancy Members free. All prices include taxes and fees.
Address: 1400 Avalon Canyon Road, Avalon, CA 90704
Getting here: About 1.7 miles from the Avalon ferry terminal; accessible by golf cart, taxi, bike or on foot via Avalon Canyon Road
Shuttles: Free round-trip shuttle service runs between the Trailhead Visitor Center and the garden with purchase of an entry ticket. Shuttle times vary. Check availability at checkout when booking online.
Set at the top of Avalon Canyon, the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden is one of the most distinctive natural and cultural landmarks on Catalina Island. The 38-acre garden is home to plants found nowhere else on Earth, a striking 1930s memorial built entirely from island materials, and sweeping views down the canyon to the San Pedro Channel and the California mainland.
The garden is self-guided and open year-round. Plan for at least an hour to walk the grounds and climb the Memorial. If you’re a garden enthusiast, allow two hours or more. Allow a minimum of 30 minutes if you’re pressed for time, even a brief visit gives you a strong sense of the grounds and a panoramic view from the Memorial’s observation platform.
Spring brings the best of the native plant bloom season. St. Catherine’s Lace, one of six plants found only on Catalina, shifts from white flower clusters to russet-hued seedheads as the season progresses. Year-round, the garden offers a quiet escape from the waterfront bustle, just a 30-minute walk from the ferry terminal.
Access 380+ Gardens Across North America
As a Catalina Island Conservancy member, you can enjoy unlimited year-round admission to the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden as well as access to special events, hikes, publications, discounts and more. But your membership goes even further with admission to more than 380 gardens across North America through our partnership with the American Horticulture Society.
BECOME A MEMBERWhat’s New at the Garden
Little Fox Hollow
A newly developed corner of the garden designed for kids. Little Fox Hollow encourages curiosity and unstructured, creative play in the garden’s outdoor environment. It’s designed for families with children of any age, and serves as an extension of the island community’s own backyard.
Isla's Mailbox
Children are invited to send handwritten letters to the Conservancy’s Catalina Island fox ambassador using the dedicated mailbox at Little Fox Hollow. Letters are collected and some may even be answered by Isla herself.
Journaling Bench
Tucked into a quiet corner of the garden, the journaling bench is a place to write, reflect or simply watch the seasons change. Open to all visitors.
Interpretive Signs Honoring Indigenous Connection
New interpretive signs on native and endemic plants throughout the garden are labeled in English, Spanish and Gabrieleno-Tongva — recognizing the deep and lasting relationship between the Tongva people and this landscape. Signs were made possible by the National Recreation Foundation.
Borrow a Plant Guide
Available at the garden entrance, the free plant guides cover the traditional Indigenous uses of native plants for food, medicine and materials, and provide context on the Gabrieleno-Tongva people’s long cultural relationship with the island’s plant life.
A Catalina Landmark
The Wrigley Memorial
Commissioned by Ada Wrigley after her husband’s death and completed in 1934, the Wrigley Memorial was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Bennett, Parsons and Frost with a guiding goal: build as much of it as possible from Catalina Island itself.
The memorial’s walls are reinforced concrete into which crushed island stones were embedded, then sandblasted to highlight the local material. The blue flagstone paving the ramps and terraces was quarried from Little Harbor on Catalina’s windward coast. The red roof tiles and the colorful handmade glazed tiles that finish the structure came from the Catalina Pottery Co., which operated on the island from 1927 to 1937.
The top of the structure offers breathtaking views from the observation platform down Avalon Canyon and across the San Pedro Channel to the California mainland.
William Wrigley Jr. (1861-1932) was the founder of the Wrigley Company, maker of Wrigley’s Chewing Gum, and owner of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. He purchased controlling interest in Catalina Island in 1919 with a vision to transform it into a world-class destination for all generations. He died on Jan. 26, 1932, at age 70. He was briefly interred at the memorial, but his remains were moved during World War II to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. His original burial marker can still be seen under the arch inside the memorial.
Preserving Catalina's Rare Plants
The Botanic Garden
The idea for the garden came from Ada Wrigley, who began work on the grounds in 1935 with a personal collection of desert plants. The garden grew over the following decades with additions of flora from around the world.
In 1969, the Wrigley Memorial Garden Foundation expanded and revitalized the nearly 38-acre grounds and shifted the garden’s focus to what it remains today: a living collection centered on the plants endemic to California’s Channel Islands, with particular emphasis on those native only to Catalina. Many of these species are rare, and some are listed as endangered. The Conservancy has managed the garden since 1972 and continues to use it as an active site for native plant research, education and restoration.
Today the garden is both a public destination and a working part of the Conservancy’s broader effort to bring back native plants across the island. Admission supports that work directly.
The Botanic Garden is a wonderful getaway from the busy town of Avalon.
Plants Found Only on Catalina
The garden places special emphasis on the six plants endemic to Catalina Island. These species grow naturally here and nowhere else in the world.
Catalina Ironwood
(Lyonothamnus floribundus)
A true prehistoric refugee, fossil records show this tree once carpeted the mainland from California to Nevada. Today, the Island is its final stronghold. Reaching 30 feet with deep-green, fern-like leaves and bark that peels away like weathered parchment, it transforms in spring with a heavy crown of frothy white flower clusters.
Catalina Mountain Mahogany
(Cercocarpus traskiae)
While listed as endangered, the reality is even more stark: only about six to seven pure individuals remain in the wild. A drought-hardy survivor that rarely tops 15 feet, it represents one of the most urgent conservation efforts in North America.
St. Catherine’s Lace
(Eriogonum giganteum)
A prime example of island gigantism, this buckwheat dwarfs its mainland cousins, standing up to 8 feet tall. Its massive, flat-topped clusters of white flowers act as a landing pad for local pollinators before shifting to a vintage russet-brown in the fall.
Catalina Manzanita
(Arctostaphylos catalinae)
Its smooth, deep red bark and leathery leaves make it one of the chaparral’s most recognizable shrubs. The small, urn-shaped flowers are built for buzz pollination where native bees grip the blossom and vibrate their flight muscles at high speed, shaking loose pollen. Hummingbirds visit for nectar.
Catalina Live-Forever
(Dudleya hassei)
The Island’s signature succulent, this “Live-Forever” clings to rocky outcrops. Its finger-like leaves form architectural rosettes. Look for its bright yellow flower stalks rising above the foliage.
Santa Catalina Island Bedstraw
(Galium catalinense)
A low shrub found on the coastal bluffs and rarely reaching 3-feet tall. Its rigid stems carry whorls of four narrow, hairy leaves and clusters of small white flowers. It grows on Catalina and nowhere else in the world.
For assistance or questions call, 310-510-2897.