Crarae Woodland Garden (National Trust for Scotland)

Inveraray, United Kingdom, United Kingdom

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Crarae Woodland Garden, managed by the National Trust for Scotland, is a 40–50 hectare exotic Himalayan-style woodland garden located near Inveraray in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, set beside Loch Fyne and planted around the steep-sided Crarae Burn that tumbles through a rocky gorge with waterfalls and cliffs.

Created in 1912 by Lady Grace Campbell, who sourced trees, shrubs, and flowers from China, Tibet, and Nepal via her nephew and plant collector Reginald Farrer, the garden was designed to mimic the growing conditions of Himalayan valleys where rhododendrons naturally occur.

It is considered the finest example of an exotic Himalayan-style woodland garden in Britain and features hundreds of varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas that create vibrant color in spring and summer, along with a National Collection of southern beech (Nothofagus), plus superb maples, mountain ash, eucalyptus, camellias, and magnolias.

The sheltered, mild Argyll climate supports one of the UK's most extensive fern populations, ranging from huge golden-scaled male ferns to tiny filmy ferns, and the garden attracts diverse wildlife including goldfinches, woodpeckers, peregrine falcons, red deer, red squirrels, and otters.