Information
Landmark: Arboretum at Penn StateCity: State College
Country: USA Pennsylvania
Continent: North America
Arboretum at Penn State, State College, USA Pennsylvania, North America
Overview
Sprawling over 370 acres along the campus’s northern edge, the Arboretum at Penn State was designed as a living museum of plants and a hands-on outdoor classroom where you might pause beside a maple tree and hear the wind in its leaves.The first big phase kicked off in 2009, and the master-plan projects still underway will one day connect the rose-scented gardens, quiet research plots, and winding woodland trails into a single landscape stretching toward Mount Nittany’s shadowed slopes.At the heart of H. O. Smith Botanic Gardens, visitors step onto the Hosler Oak Allee, a stately double row of swamp white oaks that shades and frames the main path.From this central spine, paths lead to a trio of specialty gardens: the Rose and Fragrance Garden, bright with hybrid teas and heirloom blooms all summer; the Pollinator and Bird Garden, alive with native plants, nesting boxes, and a wetland that buzzes with bees and flashes with dragonfly wings; and the Strolling Garden, where wide drifts of grasses and perennials shift from fresh spring bulbs to tawny autumn seedheads.Bronze and stone figures by local artists stand among the flower beds, where petals brush their bases and art meets the garden.The Childhood’s Gate Children’s Garden offers a miniature trek through Pennsylvania’s ecosystems, where kids can climb over boulders, scramble along winding paths, and lose themselves in imaginative play.Kids can wriggle through a cool limestone cave, pump water into a narrow rill that winds through sandstone channels, or duck inside a hollow log “bear den.” All around, native plants-from dark hemlocks to pink mountain laurel-anchor the landscape and offer shelter to fluttering butterflies and singing birds.Each season brings story hours, hands-on nature crafts, and even insect counts where you might spot a ladybug on a leaf.Opened in 2021, the Pollinator and Bird Garden spans four acres, arranged like a series of habitat “rooms”-meadows bright with goldenrod and milkweed, hedgerows thick with elderberry and serviceberry, a small orchard of heritage apples, and a working demonstration apiary.Over 200 nesting boxes, brush piles, and pollinator hotels shape small, sheltered habitats, and a solar‑powered pavilion provides cool shade for hands‑on backyard ecology workshops.Researchers track bee diversity, watch for flocks of migrating birds, and study how well native plant corridors link up with the dark, leaf-damp woodlots nearby.Beyond the neat lawns, narrow dirt paths slip into Hartley Wood, a surviving patch of oak and hickory where leaves crunch underfoot.Before the canopy bursts into green, spring ephemerals-trillium, bloodroot, Virginia bluebells-spread like a living quilt across the forest floor.Just beyond, the neighboring glades shelter one of the region’s oldest recorded hawthorn stands, their white blooms bursting open in early May.Wooden benches sit quietly under the trees, and nearby signs invite you to pause and reflect on the land’s pre-agricultural past and the restoration still taking shape.From late March into early April, the main promenade bursts to life, its edges lined with thousands of golden daffodils and the first bright tulips.• Mid-May: peak bloom for deciduous azaleas and flowering dogwoods; fragrant lilies emerge in the Rose Garden.• July: towering prairie plants-compass plant, cup plant, purple coneflower-dominate the Pollinator Garden; fireflies glitter over the Great Lawn at dusk.• October: maples, oaks, and sweetgums blaze around the Event Lawn; ornamental grasses reach full plume.• December: the Winter Celebration lights outline paths and sculptures, complemented by cold-season container plantings of red twig dogwood, holly, and evergreen boughs.By mid-May, deciduous azaleas and dogwoods burst into peak bloom, while fragrant lilies push up through the soil in the Rose Garden.In July, tall prairie giants-compass plant, cup plant, and purple coneflower-fill the Pollinator Garden, while fireflies wink over the Great Lawn as the sky fades to deep blue.In October, maples, oaks, and sweetgums flare in fiery color around the Event Lawn, while the ornamental grasses stand tall, their plumes soft and full in the crisp air.In December, the Winter Celebration lights trace glowing lines along paths and sculptures, while red twig dogwood, glossy holly, and fragrant evergreen boughs fill cold-season containers.The Arboretum teams up with Penn State colleges to research climate-resilient landscapes, tackle invasive species, and design sustainable storm-water systems-like rain gardens that catch summer downpours.They offer everything from guided bird walks and plant ID classes to outdoor yoga under the trees and evening concerts that light up the Overlook Pavilion stage.Volunteers pour thousands of hours into spreading mulch, tagging specimens, guiding curious visitors through the paths, and coaxing native seedlings to life in the warm, earthy greenhouse.You can drop by anytime from dawn until dusk, and there’s never a charge to get in.At the end of Bigler Road, you’ll find a small parking lot, and on weekends or evenings, overflow cars head to the nearby campus decks.Near the pavilion, you’ll find restrooms, a cool drinking fountain, and a few picnic tables tucked into the shade.
