Dunlawton Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens Features

If you like to walk, you will enjoy strolling along the paths in the Gardens.  The air is clean, there's only the noise of Nature and the temperature is cooler under the shade of the canopy overhead.

A tour of the Gardens from start to finish

The total area of the Gardens is ten acres.  It is almost a square with dimensions of 660 feet on a side.  This means that one circuit on your tour of the Gardens' paths is about one-half mile.  It's all level ground and you have the option of following the hard-packed shell paths or the slightly more difficult Hammock trail.

The Gardens is open from 8:00 AM to 6:00PM seven days a week.  Adequate parking is available right across the street.  Paths are surfaced with hard packed shell making the Gardens handicapped accessible- no hills or valleys.  Pass through our beautiful new entrance gate, a great place for that souvenir picture of your visit.  You will experience a collection of grasses, flowers, bushes and native plants under a deep canopy of oak trees.

There's always something unusual at the next turn along the path.  Here is a sugar cane crusher that was powered by an animal-perhaps a mule or horse.

Here is an example of some of the exotic plant life in the Gardens - a White Bird of Paradise.

After you walk across the bridge you will see three features that really make the Gardens a unique experience.  Above is the ruins of the Dunlawton Sugar Mill. These ruins may be the most complete you'll see anywhere in the eastern U.S.

Keep walking and you will soon come upon the Flower Circle.  At the far end and along the right side of the flower circle you will see a very beautiful garden of bromileads.  One of the star attractions at Sugar Mill Gardens.

The Human Sun Dial.  By standing on the stone of the present month, your shadow will point to the correct time.

In the center of the Flower Circle is a brass sun dial on a coquina stone pedestal.  This is an affordable wedding site in the gardens.

The "Confederate Oak".  This huge 250+ year-old Live Oak tree is aptly named as it is rumored to have provided shelter to Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.  This is an affordable wedding site in the Gardens.  You may walk through the ruins or take the main path to the left.

Just a few more steps and you will have walked full circle on your tour of the Gardens.  You will next see the administrative buildings at the Gardens.  We operate a green house in that complex and will be happy to show it to you if one of the staff is around.  You can pick up one of the plants we grow there for a small donation.   Our plants are inspected and we are licensed to provide them to you by the State of Florida.

Behind the sugar mill ruins you come upon the start of the Audubon trail where you will encounter the natural Florida "Hammock".  You can imagine what the early settlers and native people encountered as they moved from place to place.  On this tour, however, stay on the shell path and walk under the long low-hanging branches of the Confederate Oak.

As you make your final turn to exit the Gardens you will walk by our library.  This library contains hundreds of books on plants and is a great reference source for you to use.  The building was moved to this site from a private estate in the Orange City area on the west side of the County.  The building dates to about the 1850's.

Following the shell pathway will take you past  our palm and camellia gardens and through a dense stand of shell ginger.  When you get through the ginger you will come upon Nature's Chapel.  Antique lampposts and a red brick walkway under an overhanging canopy of oak and vibirnum trees provides a perfect setting for gatherings of all kinds.  This is an affordable wedding site in the Gardens.

The final feature of your tour is our gazebo.  You will pass by it on the way to the exit.  The building has been used for gatherings and as a shelter from a rain shower.  The support columns contain plaques honoring many of those who over the years have contributed to the success of the gardens.  This is an affordable wedding site in the Gardens.

Continuing on the path past Nature's Chapel as you walk deeper into the hammock you will encounter the first of a number of life-sized dinosaur sculptures.  These concrete sculptures were created in the 1940's when the Gardens was a tourist attraction.  Children really enjoy seeing these creatures.

Your virtual tour of the gardens is over.  We hope you have found it interesting and are motivated to visit the Gardens in person.  You have not seen everything.  The rest is being saved for your personal visit. Guided tours are available for individuals or small groups with advance notice.  Please remember, our staff is all volunteers.  Generally, tours can be accommodated on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. However, we may be able to provide a tour at other times if you will call in advance to set up a mutually agreeable time.  Call the Gardens at 386-767-1735 and leave a message.  Someone will call you back.

How about this guy!  A Stegosaurus! The King of the dinosaurs!  Tyrannosaurous Rex!

Keep walking.  The tour continues at the top of the page.

If you take the path straight ahead you will walk over this stone bridge.  On the other side of the bridge?  A life-sized GIANT GROUND SLOTH   sculpture!  They lived in this area thousands of years ago.