The Arboretum At Gustavus Adolphus College — Attraction in St. Peter

This is a beautiful park! Wide-open spaces, simple parking, and generally very well kept.

Unfortunately, we had a very rude interaction with someone who works at this park (we think she works there?). We were visiting from out of town for a short family picnic at the first covered section right by the entrance, and we had our little dog with us. A middle age woman with a bright pink sun hat comes up and passive aggressively says that no dogs are allowed and that we need to leave immediately. We told her that we were sorry - we didn’t know that because we didn’t see any “No Dogs” signs OR see that policy listed on Google or Apple Maps, and that we will leave as soon as we get packed up. She apparently wasn’t satisfied with that answer as she then says “you are part of the problem” among a slew of other rude things. She hovered until we left.

It honestly sucked. It definitely put a damper on our celebration. We were in the wrong for bringing our small pup, but there is always a kind way to tell someone a company policy.

Please put up an obvious sign about the dog policy, list it obviously on your website (I had to do a key word search), and/or list it on Google and Apple Maps.

(and beware of the woman in the...

If it were just the location, we would have rated 5-stars. However, an employee or volunteer in a pink sunhat ruined our day. We had a small family gathering celebrating the baptism of our new grandson when this lady comes over aggressively complaining that dogs are not allowed. One of our family members had a small lap-dog with us. The dog was harnessed, leashed, and didn't make a sound. We were packing up to leave anyway, having only been there for about an hour, when this lady harassed us. There were no signs that we saw, nor were there any policies listed on the maps. Regardless, we were happy to leave - we didn't break the rules on purpose. There was absolutely no reason for the lady in the pink hat to be so very rude and aggressive. Her aggressiveness was completely inappropriate. She also went after another family who was peacefully walking their quiet, leashed dog as well. In the future, I would suggest calmly and quietly informing guests of the no-dog policy, rather than trying to make them feel...

A nice little arboretum within an easy drive of the Twin Cities. It has a number of interesting gardens and a nice set of walk paths to go along. It is free and there is free parking available. No where near as big as the U of M arboretum but it is free and not crowded, two things you can't often say about the U of M arboretum.

Looking for a little day trip out of the Twin Cities, this visit with a walk of the campus may be a...