Arboretum and Japanese Garden

Trees and shrubs from all over the world thrive at the 267-acre University of Washington Arboretum (Lake Washington Blvd., dawn–dusk daily, free). A half-mile trail leads visitors past lodgepole pine, Oregon crabapple, huckleberry, Pacific dogwood, madrone, and more than 5,500 other varieties of plants. The 0.75-mile Azalea Way path winds through cherry, Japanese maple, azalea, dogwood, and rhododendron trees and bushes; it’s a gorgeous place in the spring when everything is in bloom. In the off-season, head to the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden.

The Waterfront Trail is a 1.5-mile round-trip stroll through wooded islands and Union Bay’s shores at the north end of the arboretum, passing through the largest remaining wetland in Seattle [1] (duck sightings guaranteed). The woodchip and boardwalk trail is level, with numerous benches for resting.

Pick up a nature guide at the west end, at the Museum of History and Industry [2], or at the arboretum visitors center. The Graham Visitors Center (206/543-8800, www.depts.washington.edu/wpa [3], 10 a.m.–4 p.m. daily) on the north end of the park has a shop with gardening books and knickknacks for sale. Stop here for free hour-long guided tours at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (Sunday only in winter). A greenhouse near the visitors center sells plants propagated from the arboretum collection.

At the south end of the arboretum (near Lake Washington Blvd. E) is the 3.5-acre Japanese Tea Garden (206/684-4725, opens at 10 a.m. daily Mar.–Nov., closes at varying times depending upon the season and weather, $5 adults, $3 kids and seniors, kids under 6 free), with manicured ornamental trees, a secluded pond, and an authentic teahouse given to Seattle [1] by its sister city, Kobe, in the 1960s. A popular tea ceremony takes place at 1:30 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month.