Minnetrista Museum & Gardens is the home of the Ball jar and a gathering place for our community! There are so many great things to experience here, and we believe everyone should have access to them. While we do charge admission fees for museum visits, there are many free offerings and affordable options for visitors. Keep reading to learn all about them!

Free Admission to the Gardens

Minnetrista’s gardens and Nature Area are free for you to enjoy. With over 40 acres of landscaped grounds and beautiful gardens with trails, including the Cardinal Greenway, you can explore different types of plants, trees, and flowers right here in Muncie. It’s the perfect setting to relax and unwind, walk your dog, visit with family, or get your heart rate up with a jog or hike. You may even want to put your gardening skills to work for Minnetrista as a volunteer. So come explore the gardens at your own pace, take in the beauty of nature, and connect with yourself and others. Learn more about all of our gardens and the open hours here.

Community Gardens

What’s better than exploring the gardens? Utilizing the free resources they provide! Visit the Orchard Garden and Culinary Herb Garden during the warmer months to enjoy a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs for free. These gardens are open for all to enjoy. Visit to try out new herbs, gather ingredients for dinner, or learn about different ways to build and maintain a garden space. There’s also a free seed library in the Orchard Garden for you to find seeds and gardening resources. Learn more about these gardens here.

Areas for Families

The Backyard Garden and Betty’s Cabin are wonderful free spaces for families to enjoy! You can wander through the Backyard Garden to discover colorful flowers, exciting interactives like our mud kitchen and chalkboard, a koi pond with goldfish, and numerous places to play, enjoy a picnic, or relax. Just a short walk away, Betty’s Cabin is full of games, toys, arts, and crafts for children and their adult caregivers to enjoy. Learn more about the reopening of this space, supported by Patterson Block Muncie, in this previous blog post. Both of these areas are great resources for local families to have an outing and build long-lasting memories together–for FREE! Click the images to learn more and check the hours.

Free Community Events

Each year, we put on various signature events for our community! Almost all of them are free for community members of all ages. These include the Farmers Market, Garden Fair (coming up on May 12 & 13!), Fourth of July Celebration, and the Enchanted Luminaria Walk. Faeries, Sprites, & Lights is a ticketed event, but members receive a discount on their ticket purchases. We also have free Family Adventure Days during Spring and Fall. For visitors and members who use SNAP Benefits and other alternative forms of payments, you can still purchase goods from vendors at the Farmers Market, Garden Fair, and Enchanted Luminaria Walk. For more information on this option, check out this blog.

Museums for All Membership

Although there are free ways to experience Minnetrista, there’s so much to discover with admission! Admission grants you access to all of our exhibits, the Bob Ross Experience, the Oakhurst Experience, and discounts on our workshops and at The Orchard Shop. If the price of admission has ever posed a barrier for you and your family, our Museums for All membership might be for you! This is an affordable annual membership option for community members in our 7-county service region. The membership is annual at only five dollars for the entire family and the entire year. To learn more and sign up, please call 765.287.3504. If you can afford a little more, join us at the Local Access, Explorer, or Premier membership levels. Those memberships provide great benefits and essential funding that makes our programming possible. Presented by PrimeTrust Federal Credit Union.

We hope that you’ll take advantage of all that we have to offer and visit Minnetrista! You can check out all of our upcoming events at www.minnetrista.net/events

Exploring the Free Attractions at Minnetrista Museum & Gardens

Free Admission to the Gardens

Community Gardens

Areas for Families

Free Community Events

Museums for All Membership

Garden Fair Qs & As

Container Gardening Care: Growing with Limited Space