Mabery Gelvin Botanical Gardens

This is such a refreshing and relaxing experience to just walk around or sit and enjoy beautiful plants and views. The area with the pond has fascinating fish and you can get quarters to get food from a machine to feed them and watch them quickly flock to the food. I could have watched them for hours. I was surprised I had never been! I will definitely return again.

Absolutely beautiful gardens, well worth the visit. This place would make for a great photo-opportunity for a couple or family. It diffinitely would be a wonderful back drop for a wedding also. Really nice pond arra, with colorful koi fish, a beautiful bridge and nice flowing small waterfall. Pretty flowers abound in the park, with paved walking paths. Much more to see, just a nice experience!

Beautiful little garden. Amazing koi fish, that you can feed. Well labeled specimens. Cool checkers and tic-tac-toe boards. Not crowded even on busy weekends. Nearby lake and woods make it a great attraction to visit, whether you are just driving by, or looking for a day trip in central Illinois.

Beautiful! Definitely worth the 2 hour drive! Always been on my bucket list! Feeding the koi fish was my favorite! Thousands of them! You can feed them them seedless watermelon, shredded lettuce, plain cheerios, and they provide a food dispensary for fish food. 50 cents each handful!

Really beautiful gardens. Lots of love and care has been put into the gardens. Fun for the kids to feed the fish!

This garden was hands-down beautiful. There were so many Coi fish in the pond that I saw layers of them when people fed them cereals.

Quiet, restful, plenty of benches to sit & reflect. Bring some lettuce or Cherrios to feed the fish from the walk bridge. Great for kids of all ages.

This garden makes great use of vibrant colored flowers/plants to make a very attractive display. The Koi pond with the cascading waterfall was also drawing a lot of interest. While I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer number and color variations of the Koi, for some reason, I also seemed to appreciate the fanciful lily pads more than most. Beautiful! My only suggestion might be a little less reliance on ultra-common plant varieties.

We are so fortunate to have this place to enjoy. The seasonal decorations enhance the natural beauty of the gardens.

Nice botanical garden. We loved the Japanese bridge and waterfall. The take a taste garden was neat too. Kids learned about plants as we walked around and read the plaques.

So beautiful and peaceful! The Holiday Walk so relaxing after a busy day at work.

Wonderful place to go for a walk. Very peaceful!

We visited early on a Sunday morning and it was perfect temperature, all the fish were out and swimming, garden areas were gorgeous. It was quiet and peaceful. We will be back!

Just absolutely beautiful! It was a very busy day at the park, but it was so relaxing!

BEAUTIFUL place, we visit several times a week. Very well maintained, and overall perfect lil piece of heaven .

Very pretty when in full bloom. They just updated the water fall too. You can feed the fish with the fish food they provide in a gumball like machine. It cost 50 cents. Only takes quarters. If you drop one piece of food in the water a bunch of fish come running to get it. So take plenty of quarters.

I visited this park year ago and fall in love with it. The pond is full of beautiful koi and gold fish. Red bridge , waterfall , lots of plants, flowers, trees and museum of prairie. The park is very well kept and next to Lake of the woods were you find lots of room for a picnic.

Great place to walk. My dog & love the park.

The infamous red bridge is just breathtaking! Along with the gorgeous greenery as well, this garden is a wonderful place for photos.

A nice place near Champaign to visit with your family and spend time with nature.