The UW Arboretum

An outdoor marvel, the UW Arboretum, located about four miles south of the main campus, hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. Springtime blooms provide the perfect photo op: Arb staff members issue photo permits, and 51 were used for one-time sessions in May 2018 alone.

Summer at the UW Arboretum attracts traffic of many kinds: bicyclists, runners, and learners. Participants in a 2017 bumblebee monitoring workshop (above) photograph the buzzing bees for surveying.

Fall colors make autumn a popular time at the Arboretum. Plus, the nature facility’s tour of Madison’s Lost City, held each year in late October or early November, typically draws about 100 attendees.

Winter’s frosty weather may deter some visitors, but the season attracts cross-country skiers and snowshoers. The Arboretum also hosts a New Year’s Eve night walk — one of its highest-attended events each year.