Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden

The Los Angeles County Arboretum sits in Arcadia at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, and it is genuinely unlike anywhere else in Southern California. This is not a zoo in the conventional sense — there are no lion enclosures or tiger talks — but the grounds pulse with wildlife all the same.

The resident Indian peafowl are the undisputed stars, dozens of them drifting between flowering trees and heritage buildings, fanning their tails for nobody in particular. You will hear them long before you see them.

The 55 hectares take in a remarkable sweep of botanical collections — African, Australian, tropical, Mediterranean — and the historic Baldwin Estate buildings, which you may recognise from Tarzan films and Fantasy Island. Egrets, herons, and red-eared slider turtles cluster around the lagoon near the Queen Anne Cottage, and the riparian areas attract a steady rotation of native Californian birds that serious birders make day trips for.

Wildlife here is largely wild and free-ranging rather than managed, which gives the whole visit a looser, more serendipitous feel than a traditional zoo.

Conservation messaging is woven into the botanical programming rather than delivered through large carnivore showcases, and the arboretum holds ties to native plant restoration work across the county. It is honest, quiet environmental work rather than headline breeding programmes.

Allow three to four hours on a mild day, more if you are a serious plant or bird person. The grounds are pushchair and wheelchair friendly on most paths, though gravel sections near the rose garden can slow you down. Parking is straightforward off Baldwin Avenue, and weekend crowds build significantly by mid-morning.

Arrive before 10am on a weekday for the best light, fewest people, and the peacocks at their most animated.