Arboretums and Gardens - Seattle/Bellevue Area

Washington Park Arboretum is a 230-acre beauty-of-a-garden that escapes most folks who venture into the Seattle area. Stretching from the south shore of Lake Union to East Madison Street in Seattle, it’s a haven for folks who love nature. It’s free for the taking but there is a charge of $2.50 for the Japanese garden, rated among the top ten Japanese gardens outside of Japan.

This time of year you’ll see the beauty of trees: maples, weeping cherries, majestic oaks, magnolias, pine, spruce, cedar, crabapple, fir, holly, deciduous azaleas, stately birches, redosier dogwoods, larches, camellias and witch hazel. Fall colors are already setting in. The terrain includes more than 40,000 trees, shrubs and vines, including 4,600 different species and cultivated varieties from all over the world. The park features the largest Japanese maple collection in the United States.

The Woodland Garden is a favorite in the fall, home to 170 cultivars of Japanese maple. Loderi Valley features magnolia, conifers and rhododendrons. Rhododendron Glen and the New Zealand High Country Exhibit feature New Zealand natives that thrive in this climate. There’s also a waterfront trail.

Feast your eyes on luscious plants and trees as you stroll the trails. The walking paths are wide in this fertile environment for your lingering enjoyment. Beautiful Azalea Way, laden with flowering Japanese cherries, dogwoods, rhododendrons and cherry trees hosts around 15,000 visitors in a weekend! The birds, of course, love it there as much as the tourists. It’s a great place to watch birds and other wildlife.

The park is managed and maintained by a party of three: the University of Washington, the City of Seattle and the Arboretum Foundation. In the spring the trio hosts a huge plant sale, one of its many planned activities. Be sure to visit the site for more information on year-round events.

The grounds and trails are open from 7 a.m. until dusk daily. Dusk is also when drive-through gates close. There’s a visitor center and gift shop for your enjoyment. For more information on the Arboretum visit http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/.

Bellevue Botanical Gardens

If the size of the Washington Park Arboretum overwhelms you, there’s another park on the East Side that’s a great site to visit: The Bellevue Botanical Gardens on Wilburton Hill in Bellevue, open from dawn to dusk daily.