Forestiere Underground Gardens

Address:	5021 W Shaw Ave, Fresno, CA 93722, USA
Phone:	+1 559-271-0734
Site:	undergroundgardens.com
Rating:	4.6
Working:	Closed Closed 11AM–4PM 11AM–4PM 11AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 10

A Private User

I am an employee at Forestiere Underground Gardens, so I might be biased in my opinion, but I strongly suggest that anyone who is in Fresno visits the Underground Gardens. It is not $20 for adults, as Stephanie seems to think. It is in fact $12. Now if this still sounds expensive to you, trust me, it is worth it. All of our tour guides are very knowledgable and you will learn the entire history of the gardens and the inspirational man who created them, not to mention you will be able to experience this beautiful, one of a kind place. I have never had one person that has been on one of my tours not think it was worth every penny by the end. Ive actually had several people come back with other members of their families because they were so fascinated by it. To anyone who visited the gardens within the past few years and was not fully impressed, I strongly encourage you to go again. The family has been making many improvements on how things are run. Guests now spend 45min to an hour on tour, and things go much more smoothly because they have hired more people to help out. I was going to suggest that you should give them another chance, Stephanie, but after looking at your rating history, it seems that nothing is good enough for you, so maybe it is best for you not to come back. However, I would love the oppurtunity to change your mind about the gardens by having you on one of my tours when we open again next season. =]

David Young

The Underground Gardens are a fascinating bit of California history. We had no idea what to expect so it easily lived up to those expectations. The family-owned and operated gardens as they exist today are a fraction of what they were at their peak decades ago. What remains is ten acres of hand-dug underground rooms, many open to the surface, with very clever drainage built in, a ballroom, and citrus trees everywhere. The gardens are very easy to pass by on the street as signage is discreet and there is no huge parking lot. Dont go expecting to escape the heat though; it was over 105 degrees on the surface during our visit and while a good 10 or more degrees cooler in the underground rooms, it was still plenty hot. My only deduction is for the admission price which seemed a couple of dollars more than some might find reasonable. We enjoyed the tour and history in any case.

Cory Steinbrecher

Would have been interesting if I wasnt distracted by the fact that I felt scammed. This locations policy promotes a ticket entrance purchase before they answer questions about unique circumstances. In my situatiuon, I asked a staff member about wearing a child carrying backpack. She differed and said she did not know. We asked the staff member charging entrance and he didnt answer until we paid. We were told we could not use it on the tour. The first stop in the tour happened to be a detailed explanation of how the facility was built, presented by the first staff member who apparently didnt know we couldnt use these carriers. How does the person who gave the tour not know about this policy. Hence my irritation that they forced payment before answering my initial question.

Susan Ladd

OMG, my tour guide - Joe - was soooo gabby. And the group needed to be upwind from him. He stank so badly. He felt the need to explain what "rebar" is. Really? Anything to keep talking, I guess. And all the talk about grafting the trees! In every detail like the group were horticulturalists! A lot of the "rooms" were chained off so nobody could go in. If you want to be bored half out of your mind and deal with Joes stench, go for it. Its expensive and the tour isnt as nice as it was 20 years ago. Not much talking back then and you didnt have to sit in an arena in the sweltering heat while he talked on and on and on. Oh,he doesnt know too much for a tour guide. Someone asked how many rooms there are and he didnt know!

William Reiss

If you are visiting Fresno within the near future, I highly recommend the Forestiere Underground Gardens. I took my family there on Saturday, and we loved it! The tour guides and staff members did an excellent job! They gave us a brief summary of the history, and it was very informative. We had Martin as our tour guide, and he did a superb job of making our experience enjoyable. Plus, he kept us laughing with his humor. My family was very impressed with the tour, and in fact, this was one of our best Fresno experiences. They also offer a military discount for military service members. I highly recommend this tour!

Debbie

Wow! Ive lived a mile from this place for 20 years, and I never realized what a gem of a place it is. I was so impressed with the imagination and work that went into creating these underground areas that I cant stop thinking about what I saw. The staff was incredibly welcoming, from the dedicated gardener that greeted us at the front gate to our amazing and funny guide, Bailey. We never would have guessed that we were only her second tour group-she definitely knew her history. If your visiting Fresno or live here, go check it out. You wont be disappointed!

Robert Hanson

This place was totally worth the stop and the $$. Its very unassuming from the street, but as soon as you walk through the gates youre greeted by a friendly face guiding you to the entrance (not particularly obvious). The friendly faces continued through the whole visit. And the tour, oh the tour, truly inspirational! The work done here by this gentleman is truly a masterpiece. Theres a surprise around every corner and pure genius. Its heartwarming to know that whats left of the property is still in the hands of the Forestiere family.

Misha Metrikin

Really neat part of California History. The guy who built this place was living proof that there is not a whole heck of a lot to do in Fresno other than try and escape the heat. The place is awesome however, and the staff is friendly. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and underground cavern have an otherworldly hand crafted feel. It is also tempting to reach for the brightly colored fruit growing on the expertly grafted citrus trees. Make sure to check out this strange part of California history for yourself.

Nicole Biggins

The place is cool, but unfortunately you are forced to sit/ stand in one place for what seems like forever. So to call this a family fun thing to do, when you and/or your kid(s) cant stand to just sit around while someone talks, isnt really the place to be. Luckily they were really awesome and gave me a refund because my son wasnt able to wait around and I gave up in the 2nd room. They only give active duty military discounts, not vets, but hey, lets give a college kid a discount though...

TB Engle

My sweetheart Ewa, my friend Supriya, and I went to the under ground gardens on 7/4/09 and had a wonderful time. If you have a chance to go on July 4th I really recommend it. Thats the birthday of the place and I thought it was the best day to go there for a tour, although we ended up there on that day by accident. If you come through Fresno and only have time to see one thing, this is it. You wont want to miss it! Ive waited 4 years to get to see it and it was worth the wait.