Our Mission

The nearly 400 acres of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden provides guests a chance to reconnect with nature in all seasons. The breathtaking Visitor Pavilion welcomes visitors to 30 acres of spectacular gardens including a children’s garden, a conservatory dedicated to the display of tropical plants and orchids, the dry Piedmont Prairie, annual and perennial displays, sparkling fountains, and more. Beyond the formal garden, visitors can explore our nearly 6 miles of trails, including a two mile section of the Duke Kimbrell Trail on the banks of Lake Wylie, or make a stop off at our Trailhead Store and enjoy our 1/3 acre dog park. There truly is something for everyone.

In 1991, Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile executive from Belmont, North Carolina, reserved 380 acres of prime rolling meadows, woodlands, and lakefront property and established a foundation on which to develop a world-class botanical garden. A lifelong nature lover and gardening enthusiast, Stowe and his wife, Alene, envisioned a complex evolving over several decades to rival other internationally renowned gardens.

Standing sentinel over the garden is the stunning 13,500 square-foot Visitor Pavilion with its breathtaking 100-year-old stained-glass dome. The pavilion opened in 1999, along with eight garden rooms and 12 exceptional fountains. In 2008, the William H. Williamson, III, Orchid Conservatory opened later followed by the opening of Lost Hollow: The Kimbrell Children’s Garden in 2014. In 2019, the garden opened the Piedmont Prairie Garden in celebration of the 20th anniversary.

In October 2023, the boards of directors of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden and Catawba Riverkeeper approved a Shared Services Collaboration agreement between the two organizations. This unique collaboration allows the organizations to share administrative resources to reduce overhead, create economies of scale, and work closely on shared programmatic areas of emphasis such as environmental education and outdoor recreation. By bringing two conservation minded environmental non-profits together in this manner, it is our hope that we will inspire our communities to further engage in protecting our region’s precious natural resources.

Following a transformational strategy report by Vandever Batten, in 2022 the board of directors has engaged the services of Design Workshop to develop a long range strategic site masterplan that considers how we might best utilize our full 380 acres to inspire a love of nature and its beauty through unforgettable outdoor experience. This site masterplan was completed and approved by the Board of Directors in the summer of 2023 and will cast the vision for the expansion of our experiential offerings over the next decade. We hope that you will EXPERIENCE all our property has to offer and return often as we grow and expand those experiences to better serve our communities.