Soos Creek Botanical Garden

The 22 acres on which the garden is located was originally part of 200 acres that Maurice Skagen’s Norwegian immigrant ancestors purchased between 1891 and 1905. The garden is located off 132nd St SE, across from Mountain View HS, on the East Hill between Auburn and Kent. You will encounter a variety of individual gardens as you stroll the pathways. Nearest the road is the Heritage Garden which is filled with roses, peonies, and iris (depending on the time of year). The paths then wind through the rain garden, the Garden Room, past the Demonstration Garden, around a large pond, through the Long Borders and down to the Cedar Grove and Soos Creek, beyond.

The garden has been a work in progress since 1963 when the owner began acquiring plants as research for his master’s thesis. Initial purchases included a large selection of conifers, azaleas, rhododendrons, and other evergreen shrubs. These have grown into some of the larger specimens in the garden.

A number of plants were purchased during trips to England and Japan in the mid 1980's, such as tree peonies from Kyoto, and Sorbus from England. Over the past 40 years a wide variety of plants were acquired from Pacific Northwest specialty nurseries.

Soos Creek Heritage Center
The heritage center is devoted to the farming life of the early settlers on the Soos Creek plateau, the historical agricultural center of the Kent/Auburn area. Many early photos, historical maps, and newspaper articles are displayed in the barn-style building, and one can capture the flavor of life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


There is no entry fee for either the gardens or the Heritage Center but donations are accepted.