Autumn Visit at the US National Arboretum
One of the silver linings of the pandemic for me has been that with so much downtime and very limited things to do, I discovered many local spots that I hadn’t explored much before! The US National Arboretum in Washington, DC is often mixed up for the US Botanic Garden. The botanic garden is right next to the Capitol while the National Arboretum is located in NE DC.
While exploring lots of local parks and trails, the arboretum in DC was one of my favorite discoveries. The park was established in 1927 and is comprised of 446 acres! It is gorgeous to visit year-round, but fall time is especially astonishing to me.
In the fall, the arboretum is sprawling with beautiful yellow wildflowers! The Capitol columns in the central part look extra stunning framed by these bright flowers. This is one of the most iconic parts of the park.
These Corinthean columns stand in the middle of 20 acres of open meadows. The columns as well as the steps they sit on used to be part of the US Capitol! They were ultimately moved because of a flaw in design with the dome appearing too large in proportion to the columns. They were relocated to their current home at the arboretum in the 1980s.
The US National Arboretum is huge! I have been several times and still not explored each area yet. Some highlights of the park include the Asian Collection, the Azalea Collection, the Friendship Garden, and the Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Check out their opening hours and more information on the USNA website.
Have you ever visited the US National Arboretum? What was your favorite part?
6 Comments
Kaybee Lives
This looks like such a great adventure! I love all of the pictures, it was like l was there with you! Thanks for sharing your autumn visit at the US national arboretum with us!
Jade Braham (@JadeBraham2)
It looks really lovely there. I also started exploring my local areas. It’s amazing how much we don’t see when we live our normal busy lives.
Lulu
Looks so beautiful! Can’t wait to be able to visit all these beautiful places.
Paige J. Watts
Those wildflowers are beautiful! Fall sounds like a great time to visit the National Arboretum!
katurchin
Looks very beautiful! What a great day trip.
simplyjolayne
Looks like a beautiful location. Especially great for taking pictures.