Edith Carrier Arboretum at JMU

The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum is an urban garden and woodland sanctuary boasting gorgeous flora and fauna in all seasons. Walk through 3 miles of peaceful wooded trails as they wind through the old growth trees, stroll through the stone labyrinth, and listen to birdsong overhead, beautiful in all seasons. Their recently added story walk and children’s garden with life size troll and larger than life creatures adds unexpected surprises a short distance from the much photographed pond and bridge. The arboretum is particularly popular with birders and admirers of spring wildflowers.

It's school field trip season. There will be about 100 7th graders working in stations. with their teachers. They will be primarily in the pond area, the family garden/storywalk area, and at the Tree Terrace at the education center. The Wood Wildflower Garden will not have large numbers of students, nor the other Arboretum trails. We will be taking a self guided tour scheduled at 10am.
Your best parking choice will be in the JMU R5 lot, 664 University Blvd. It is designated for Arboretum visitor overflow. You are allowed to use either of the smaller arboretum lots, but those are generally full this time of year.

You're very welcome to stop in at the Frances Plecker Education Center to say hello to our staff. We will have a mini-exhibit of a local photographer's work at that time as well as our regular gift shop offerings and other resources.

The drive is approximately 1.5 hours from the West End. Any who want to carpool can meet at the parking lot at the I64 exit for Rockville/Manakin to depart by 8:30am. We can have lunch in Harrisonburg following for those interested.