Washington Park Arboretum, Washington, United States

5907blaked 5:00 PM Nov 20, 2022

Beautiful FREE park near University of Washington
We visited on a Saturday in November and had a great time. Huge and beautiful, even in November. And the price (free) is perfect. The visitors center/main entrance has bathrooms and a cafe inside selling coffee, cider, cookies, and gifts. NOTE: We arrived at around 2pm on a Saturday, and the main parking lot (by the visitor's center) was absolutely packed. (It probably didn't help that there was a Univ. of Washington football game starting at 6pm.) We circled and circled until we finally found a parking spot. It was only later that we learned that there are many parking lots throughout the arboretum, and so you don't need to park at the one at the main entrance. In fact, if you are going to the Japanese Gardens (which carries an entrance fee of $8 per person), there are much closer parking lots. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the 20-30 minute walk from the visitors center to the Japanese Gardens.

4BeginsInWonder 5:00 PM Mar 21, 2020

Magnolias and trees of the world
Washington Park Arboretum has a large selection of trees and plants from around the world. The Magnolia walkway is a paved path the length of the park. The magnolia blooms are lovely around late March. There are lots of minor trails which give you the feeling of getting lost and meandering through the landscape. Note that if visiting in time of covid 19, I found it possible to keep a distance of six feet from people while walking in the main part of the Park. However the trail to Foster Island was too crowded and I would not go again for safety of myself and others.