4000 Morikami Park Road
Delray Beach

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Among Morikami's celebrated attractions is nature in its most ordered form. The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is one of our go-to places when we have out-of-town guests, and makes for a great stroll any time, really. But the museum and gardens isn't all that this Palm Beach County park has to offer. There is a wild side to Morikami. Survey the grounds as you approach the musuem building.

There are fields and trees filled with warblers, jays, grackles and raptors; ponds alive with water fowl — moorhens, mottled ducks, anhingas. There are delicate wild flowers and pine woods with an understory of airplants, greenbriar, palmetto and ferns. Morikami also offers Lake Biwa, with a covered observation platform and seating. There are no nature trails per se, no interpretive signs, and this isn't the place to go if you're looking to get away from the civilized world for a few hours.

But on the other hand, there is no admission fee to wander the park grounds outside the gardens, and the hours are better — dawn to dusk seven days a week. Just be aware that in some places it's hard to discern private land from park and take heed of the "no trespassing" signs.

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