Lake Wilderness Arboretum — Attraction in Maple Valley

I recently visited Lake Wilderness Arboretum and was pleasantly surprised by how peaceful and beautiful it was. A friend who volunteers there gave me a tour, and it ended up being a great experience.

The arboretum is thoughtfully maintained, with a wide variety of plants and trees to enjoy. The walking paths are easy to follow and take you through gardens, forested areas, and open spaces. It is a great place to visit for a lunch break, an hour long walk or an afternoon off.

It’s free to visit, never crowded, and has plenty of convenient parking. Everyone I met was kind and welcoming, which added to the overall sense of calm and community.

If you're in the Maple Valley area and looking for a quiet spot to unwind in nature, this is well...

This place is much larger than it seems! Various intertwined trails, small inlets, stairways to secluded loops, a children's area, even a frisbee disc golf area. Then there is the lodge, lake, and playground! I can't say much about the lodge as I've never been inside, but the lake is awesome! Wading, swimming, jumping, diving; or take your boat, sup, kayak, canoe, or donut out around on the water. The playground is at the far end of the park (opposite the arboretum). It's not a bad park, needs some updating in my opinion. However, the structures are safe and maintained and my kids always spend a good hour...

It was a nice arboretum. We visited in August and only some hydrangeas were blooming. The 110 heat wave that came in late June must have burned some of the plants like ferns, pines, rhody, and others. Hopefully these plants come back next year. They are many connected trails and we went for a couple miles hike. Nice easy hike. Not too many people at 10am on a Sunday. We also walked some around the lake. Nice small lake with some picnic tables. Seem like you could rent a kayak or boat, but we didn't...