Lauritzen Gardens

100 acres of rolling bluffs overlooking the Missouri River — over 20 themed gardens, a tropical conservatory, and 3 miles of trails through one of the nation's most outstanding botanical collections.

What began as a vision in the 1980s — and a former limestone quarry — opened in 1994 as the Omaha Botanical Gardens. Renamed for the Lauritzen family in 2001, the garden has grown into a 100-acre botanical institution on rolling bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, just northeast of the Henry Doorly Zoo. With the 32,000 sq ft Visitor & Education Center (2001), the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory (2014), and the brand-new Sofia's Play Garden (2025), Lauritzen Gardens attracts over 250,000 visitors a year and is ranked among the world's most outstanding botanical gardens.