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Photo: LPS.1, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Hakone Gardens is an 18-acre (7.3 ha) traditional Japanese garden in Saratoga, California, United States. A recipient of the Save America's Treasures Award by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it is recognized as one of the oldest Japanese-style residential gardens in the Western Hemisphere. Notable features include a bamboo garden, a Zen garden, a strolling garden, tea houses, and the Cultural Exchange Center, which is an authentic reproduction of a 19th-century Kyoto tea merchant's house and shop.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
City park with a surprising variety of options for its small size. There's a playground and a manicured grassy area where you can spread out blankets, with an amphitheater stage. Saratoga Creek runs through one corner, under the wooden bridge. If you go down the steep dirt path, you can wade through the creek on the smooth river rocks. On the west side of the park, there is a short hiking path that leads up the hill and along the fenced and gated upper edge of the park – perfect for younger kids to go exploring in the "wild" brush while staying within earshot. The sand area, which has its own water supply, is between the picnic tables and the restrooms. There is a drinking water fountain and a place to hose sand off the kids next to the restrooms. Limited parking by the entrance. (Most of the parking lot is reserved for the adjacent businesses and hotel.).