The Dawes Arboretum is a nonprofit arboretum located in Newark, Ohio. It includes nearly 2,000 acres of plant collections, gardens and natural areas. The site includes approximately 12 miles of hiking trails and roadways for a four-mile driving tour.
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
Extremely dog friendly starting at the gate with treats, throughout all trails and including inside the gift shop!!
Every person working was extremely friendly and helpful at the gate, Haley answering the phone and again inside the gift shop and both ladies from the Licking County Master Gardeners at their pop up display!
I had not been to Dawes in 7 or 8 years and a LOT has gotten even better!! There is a driving tour and there are MANY trails!!
The native Ohio plants area behind the visitors center is amazing. The bees and butterflies were in full force bc of the plant choices mapped out for the area!!
Many of these plants are available for purchase if you go through the gift shop for $10 each. I believe the bonsi trees were available for purchase but not $10.
The natural play area for kids is amazing with the living bamboo tunnels and rooms and it's in the shade, so that's a bonus. There's a Little Library there, too.
The woodland bird and owl sculptures are huge!! The view from the bench inside the owl is unexpectedly wonderful!
Many areas are wheelchair or stroller friendly but not all. There is a wheelchair friendly portapot in the parking lot to the left which also helps when you need to take your young children or your dog inside with you.
The letter hedges, observation tower, pioneer cemetery and Japanese gardens are all as wonderful as always.
There is a tunnel that goes under the highway from close to the cemetery that goes to another meadow type area. Be sure to take a paper map with you as the map at the kiosk is faded.
Twice the heavenly scent of pine added to the enjoyment of Dawes today. One of these locations was in the Japanese gardens.
Suggestion: drive the entire property once you have paid at the gate. You will see which areas have their own parking and you can visit 2 or 3 areas from one parking spot. There is parking at the gift shop and visitors center, at the Japanese Gardens, at the Observation Tower, across from the cemetery and several other places. Many are now shaded. There is a drinking fountain at the Visitors Center.
This place is bigger than many realize. Be sure you know where you are or don't venture too far if you aren't sure. I picked up two ladies and their dog and drove them back to their car today. They were overheated, very far away from their car and confused, as well. You can always call their phone number as the gift shop person answers. I did witness another situation today where it was nice to see that they take security seriously and security personnel come quickly.
Bravo to all who continue to keep Dawes in such amazing shape and for the continuous improvement! I especially thank the board for allowing dogs!! So many people and so many kids and dogs (and Buckeye Lake cyclists) were...
Read more
My wife and I visited Columbus recently and I found out about this place after looking for something peaceful and pleasant to do outdoors on our way home as we always do on road trips. Before we stopped we had some idea of the scale of this place, but when we actually got there it was truly mind blowing. The grounds are so vast and so beautiful we spent the entire day and learned a lot about trees and the various plants.
I also booked a tour of the house ahead of time. We learned a lot of history on the tour and our guide was extremely knowledgeable and super friendly. Plus the tour itself is very detailed and they show you more of the house than I was expecting (including an amazing surprise in the basement). I can’t recommend highly enough.
It’s a lot of walking because the grounds cover thousands of acres all of which is absolutely stunning, so plan accordingly. There is also an “auto tour” around the arboretum, with places along the way to pull off and take in the sights and fresh air.
It’s amazing the dedication and care that all of their marvelous staff puts into maintaining this treasure including past caretakers (who are thoughtfully and graciously memorialized in one of the outbuildings telling you about the history of the arboretum and the people who established it).
Some of the cool things that we saw there have inspired us in our own gardening endeavors at home as well. We will be returning again and again! We absolutely LOVED The Dawes Arboretum. I told all of my family about it as well, because I think everyone should enjoy their splendid green spaces, fresh air, and tall trees (especially for how low the price of admission was). If you’re a tree lover, a gardener, or you just appreciate the great outdoors and aesthetic beauty in general, this is the place for you. Actually it’s the place for everybody, because it is impossible not to find peace, tranquility, and harmony while strolling their forested trails and beautiful gardens. We could all use some of that in our lives and the Dawes Arboretum...
Read more
Excellent place to walk and take in nature's beauty, the flower 🌺 gardens are beautiful!! Great recommendation from the lady at the gate when we purchased tickets, drive the auto routes, north & south, stop at the places you want to tour/walk. My son had to see the Japanese garden, it was really scenic and peaceful, the Koi fish and the Asian carp in the main pond were putting on a show, it was spectacular!! The main reason we went was to see the hand carved insects that are on display scattered throughout the Arboretum by Artist David Rogers, the "Big Bug's" 🦟🐜🕸️🕷️🐞 are worth the trip, it was a scavenger hunt for the kid's with their maps to find them all, with some assistance from us to drive to certain areas to assist with the journey!! We plan on making the trek back to enjoy the Arboretum again, the next big event is the Japanese garden festival on Saturday, June 22 @ 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., we received a free admission 🎫 for 2 with our admission to the park for this event. They also give a Military/Veteran discount, thank you for honoring those that served our Nation!! One thing, we did learn is if you want to view the museum, register as it is a guided tour available on 2 occasions at certain times. The observation tower 🗼, is another must do event when you visit!! ...
Read more
