It’s official, Asheville… spring is here. 🌸 Earth Day was on Monday, and with all the flowers + trees blooming, we’re feeling pretty thankful for planet Earth. Today is Arbor Day, another special day to celebrate the environment, and more specifically trees. 🌳 Trees are pretty great: they absorb carbon dioxide, keep earth cool, support wildlife + make things pretty.
Arbor Day fast facts
🌿 J. Sterling Morton is credited with the idea of Arbor Day after moving from Michigan to Nebraska in 1854 and realizing there weren’t any trees.
🌿 Arbor Day became official on April 10th, 1872 when the State Board of Agriculture in Nebraska accepted his resolution to “set aside one day to plant trees, both forest + fruit.” Nebraskans supposedly planted one million trees that day.
Today, Arbor Day is traditionally celebrated on the last Friday in April.
In honor of Arbor Day, we’re exploring one of the coolest natural education resources that Asheville has to offer: the North Carolina Arboretum. The Arboretum was established in 1986 and has 65+ acres of cultivated gardens that celebrate WNC’s diverse ecosystem. They also regularly host educational events for kids + adults.
The basics
📍 100 Frederick Olmsted Way
☎️ 665-2492
⏰ Spring + summer hours (April-October): 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
⏰ Fall + winter hours (November-March) 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Entry is free, but all cars must pay a $14 parking fee. If you’re an arboretum member, you have free entry year round with no parking fee.
The history of the arboretum
The N.C. Arboretum pays tribute to Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape designer behind the gardens at the Biltmore. When working on the design for the Biltmore, Olmsted envisioned an arboretum on the property to cultivate native + exotic species. Although his dream was never realized, the street that the Arboretum is located on is named for him. DYK: Frederick Law Olmsted co-designed Central Park in N.Y.C., too.
Today, the Arboretum includes 65+ acres of cultivated gardens that celebrate WNC’s diverse ecosystem, and regularly hosts educational events, enrichment activities for kids + lots of fun, community-oriented activities.
The Arboretum received an award from the N.C. Office of State Construction for Excellence in the Built Environment for its focus on conserving resources (like electricity 💡) on its campus. The Arboretum has one of the first “green roofs” in state construction, and also employs techniques like geothermal heating + water recycling.
I made it to the Arboretum. What should I do?
🌿 Take a tour
The Arboretum has permanent exhibits + gardens in addition to its seasonal ones. Visitors can take self-guided walking tours (the official brochure has good info for planning your route) or choose between several specialty tours. They must be booked in advance.
Garden Tour | 1.5 hours | $5 per person | Highlights 3+ acres of Arboretum gardens.
Trail Tour | 2 hours | $5 per person | Highlights plant + animal communities along Arboretum trails
Greenhouse Production Tour | 1 hr | $125 per group | 8 a.m-2p.m. Tuesday-Thursday only | Learn how the on-campus greenhouse is used to produce plants for the arboretum
If you’d rather not schedule a tour in advance, there are also guided garden walks every Friday at 10 a.m. + guided trail walks on Tuesdays + Saturdays at 1 p.m that run on a first come, first serve basis.
Protip: Don’t miss the Bonsai Garden exhibit, which has specimen from all around the world,
including Japanese maple, Chinese elm, tropical plants like willow-leaf fig, American species like bald cypress + more. World Bonsai Day is May 11, and the Arboretum will celebrate by moving their collection outside for the summer.
🌿 Bring the kids
Discovery backpacks | Kids can pick up a backpack at the front desk that’s loaded with tools + data sheets to track and record animal, insect, reptile, amphibian + bird sightings. At the end of their visit, they can report their findings to a real scientist. 🔍
TRACK Trail | Explore the Arboretum through the eyes of Shelly, the Arboretum’s resident eastern box turtle, and learn how turtles find food, water and shelter to survive. Plus, you can log your sightings online for a chance to earn free prizes.
Geocaching | The Arboretum offers adult + kid-friendly geocaching devices to find the 12 recorded geocaching sites on the campus.
Rocky Cove Railroad | Learn about how trains came to WNC at the turn of the century and check out this fully-functional model train. Rocky Cove runs 12-4 p.m. on Saturdays-Sundays.
Nature Discovery Room | The nature discovery room has tons of cool animals in their natural habitats. The discovery room is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.
EcoExplore | EcoExplore is a pilot program appropriate for grades K-8 where students can collect data in the real world and submit that information back to scientists for use in research + data analysis. Learn more here.
🌿 Get active
Take a hike | There are 10+ miles of hiking trails in the Arboretum, some of which connect to Pisgah National Forest trails, Blue Ridge Parkway trails + more. If you’re looking for a quick walk, try the Azalea Collection Trail or Old Mill Trail. For more experienced hikers, the Hard Times Road or Owl Ridge Trails are good bets.
Bring your bike | Bikes are not provided at the Arboretum, but you can bring your own + choose from easy, moderate + difficult biking trails.
🌿 Learn something new
Adult Education Classes | The Arboretum offers 150+ continuing ed classes for adults in health + wellness, fine arts, horticulture + more.
Continuing Professional Ed | Specifically geared towards adults that work in the fields of outdoor education, horticulture. The Arboretum also offers merit certification programs.
Lecture Series | See upcoming lectures + symposia here.
