Founded in 1959, Eka Karya botanical garden is the youngest and the largest of the four Indonesian botanic gardens.

The park is set against a background of tropical forest and Bukit Tapak hill with a panoramic view of Danau Beratan Lake below. There is a rich collection of plants, a herbarium, and other facilities for botanical study and research. Management also provides ecological education complete with guides and facilitators who are ready to assist visiting teachers and their students in research and discussion on plants. There is a collection of 1,046 sorts of plants spread systematically throughout the park, labeled with complete information. The collection includes 316 kinds of natural orchid, which flower at different times of the year according to the variety.

More than 650 tree species have been recorded in the park, and there are 459 different wild and propagated orchids, including some rare ones collected from the nearby forest. Visitors interested to learn more are welcome to call in at the Information Center, although it pays to take a guide, as the staff tends to be hard to find and not fluent in English. The situation is exacerbated by poor maintenance of signage.

The gardens are very large and rather more park-like than a true garden or conservatory. Our trip in November of 2004 showed that many beds were not properly tended and some exhibits and paths showed signs of neglect. It seems to be treated more as a weekend getaway for locals to bring the family, have a picnic and a run around in the grounds.

There are roads within the gardens, but to get the most out of the experience, wear comfortable shoes, park in the front and explore on foot. Bring water and sunscreen and expect to spend a few hours.