Brookgreen Gardens

1931 Brookgreen Garden Dr, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576, USA

Address:	1931 Brookgreen Garden Dr, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576, USA
Phone:	+1 843-235-6000
Site:	brookgreen.org
Rating:	4.8
Working:	9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

Jason Baker

If youre thinking its a botanical garden with sculptures...Its not. Its more of a park with lots of grassy areas, some trees, bushes/hedges, archways, lattice work, some stone walls/court yards and some flowers with sculptures intermittently scattered about. The tram stops at 3 places: the visitors center (the beginning), the middle (the boat tour...where you might see a bird or 2 and an alligator if youre lucky, the tour is shaded and takes about 45 minutes, mostly uneventful but a good break if you need one, get to the dock early if you want a seat on the end to take pictures), finally the tram stops at the zoo, the tram runs every 20 minutes, stroller and wheel chair seating are only available in the front row. Google a picture of the map before you go so you can get orientated, the map only shows the highlights, if you get there at open you can do the whole park by close...even though they say it takes 3 days, you can walk from one end of the park to the other in 20 minutes. From a photography point of view there is a general lack of good contrast and background...unless you are shooting macro...in which case IMO you would be better off at a botanical garden...however I was with family and the baby so I didnt do any ir or full spectrum which might be nice there...the butterfly aviary was where it was at. If you are going on a warm day, be prepared, there is very little shade on the walkways and aside from the 2 small indoor sculpture displays, it is a lot of walking in the sun to see all of the sculptures...also they have a 2d Celtic maze at the top of the garden on the edge of the river...if you walk the edge of the river midday you may get to see an alligator sunning itself there. The zoo has the aforementioned butterfly garden!!! and a raptor aviary!!! and a few other displays. Food there is not noteworthy, poor selection and expensive.

Jessie Loschke

My family and I have been going to Brookgreen Gardens since we bought a house in Myrtle Beach back in 2011. We have visited over a dozen times each year since with our membership cards and also for Night Of A Thousand Candles. So when I recently got engaged one of our first thoughts was to have the wedding at the gardens. My fiance, myself, and my mother decided to go to Brookgreen today to talk to an event coordinator to see how they set up weddings, pricing, packages, etc. We were directed to the Welcome Center where there was 4 older women working. When my fiance and I were having a private conversation across the room one of the women asked my mom if we needed help. My mom explained what we were looking to do, first off they didnt even know who the event coordinator was because they cant actually get an event coordinator to last there long enough to where the employees know who they even are. It took them about 10 minutes to even figure out the womans name and find her business card. As they were looking for the card one of the women looked over to my mom and said "They do know(looking at my fiance and I) it is pretty pricey to have a wedding here, right?" immediately my mom responded with "Oh dont worry the price wont be the issue." Once I realized what had happened I immediately decided we would not be using Brookgreen for our venue, if your staff cant act appropriately towards a potential sale for their company, then you dont deserve to have us. I thanked them for their time and received a fake smile and a nose to the air "Good Luck" comment. I have no intentions to return to Brookgreen Gardens after this experience.

Joy Obrian

This was a beautiful place to explore on our mid-October weeklong vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. We were pleased to learn that our general admittance ticket (I think it was $15 for adults) could be used for 7 consecutive days! The gardens, grounds, sculptures, and other exhibits were magnificent and informative. There is a lot of area to walk (if you want) and many things to see, so visits on multiple days certainly may be needed! To get around quicker than walking, you can enjoy the complimentary TRAM to and from locations within the park. If you want to go on any extra tours (such as the River Tour or Plantation Tour), be sure to go to the Low Country building right away when you arrive. They only take reservations there for the extra tours (they cost extra $) the SAME DAY on a first-come first-served basis until the tours are full. The small wildlife zoo included on the grounds was unexpected. The Low Country exhibits about slavery and plantation living in the south were well done and very educational. This place is truly a GEM in the Myrtle Beach, SC area. We are from SW Michigan, and put it on the same level as Frederik Meijer Gardens (botanical gardens and sculpture park) in Grand Rapids, MI. We are so pleased that a SC local on our airplane flight told us to visit this place!

Mark Kirschner

Having very positively experienced Longwood Gardens in PA, we were expecting a similar experience. Dissatisfaction began with a woefully inadequate handicap parking area. I have seen small garden centers with more spaces. Next came a parking security attendant who could not have cared less about directing us to a place other than overflow parking. Finally finding a place by the storybook land and "zoo", we took the open air shuttle to the main entrance. Hoping to rent a mobility scooter, I was directed, just as blithely as the parking attendant, to the pushed wheel chair area. No scooters to rent. Even after her Cheerios, my wife cant push me all around the sprawling gardens. If you carry around your own scooter on vacation and get there early enough for one of their few handicap spaces, you might just be able to enjoy yourself. In the mean time, I will hope that someone from management or customer relations will visit Longwood Gardens and see how a senior and handicap friendly botanical garden could be run. Sincerely, MK

Darren Fava

A variety of great experiences in one jam-packed day! We first enjoyed the amazing sculpture collection and beautiful, well-maintained gardens. A free guided tour focused on the sculpture highlights with a good dose of the sites rich history. They offer an assortment of history tours (extra fee)...we chose the boat tour. Our guide Jennie was great! She pointed out wildlife (great blue heron, alligators) while telling the tale of the rice plantations and the enslaved Africans who built the rice fields. We had just enough time left to run through the Lowcountry Zoo and temporary Lego exhibit. The Cypress Swamp aviary was a highlight, with ibis, egrets and heron all around you...just inches away! There really is something for everyone here...history hunters, art aficionados, nature lovers, and kids. Tickets are good for a week, so visit a few times if you can...youll need it!

Kevin C

This place was a surprise for use. We were going to just see if we could get some good photographs of the area. We were not ready for what Brookgreen had to offer. It is a LARGE area. The area was full of pathways which lead you to one garden area to another, almost all with thier own fountain and statues. In addition to the gardens, the offer a river tour on a boat and also have a small zoo. This place is almost an all day affair. We loved it. This is actually the only place we ran into a wild Alligator. It was actually floating in one of the many fountains. I will post some pictures when I am able to. Highly Highly recommend going here. Wear sunscreen and or a hat. They have two places to eat on site, both a little pricy but the food is good. Very helpful staff. 5 out of 5 will do it again.