Houston Arboretum — Local services in Houston

Posted a couple of pictures here that I took on 7/16/25. The Arboretum is great if you like some short hikes. It gets pretty densely forested at parts and you forget you are in a city a little bit! The “Outside Loop” is the trail to follow if you want a more fitness style walk there. The inner trails are great for birding, sitting and relaxing, and just observing the wildlife.

They have a series of ponds where you can see the egrets, turtles, and even some alligators in one of them. Then there’s a series of more open areas for some birding and sitting on benches. I’ve had most luck for cool sights using binoculars and peeking through the pond areas.

There’s is a membership that the Arboretum offers. The math works out that it’s really worth it if you got 6+ times a year because parking right now is around $6, membership is around $45. So if you find that you like going it’s worth it! No other tickets unless you go to one of their ticketed events on the events page. They offer family and couple pricing too on their page.

They do some promotions like “free thursdays” in the summer which waves the parking fee.

They’re a great place to support. The Arboretum and Memorial Park have really done amazing work over the past 10 or so years and since I have grown up here, I’ve seen it change substantially. If you are a proud Houstonian and like nature,...

I had the best time walking around the Arboretum. There was a lot more wildlife than I thought there would be. I saw birds, turtles, a snake in the water, dragonflies, lots of little caterpillars. I can't wait to go back a little earlier in the day so I can stay longer and walk around more. Parking was $6, it's free on Thursdays (If I remember correctly) I went on April 1st and am a little late in my post. A lot of work is put in on these grounds and it shows. Thank you to the staff that keep it...

Went here to walk around for a bit today. It was great! It's a leisurely walk in the woods in the middle of a huge city. My favorite part is the wetlands area because of the turtles and mosquito fish. Mostly the mosquito fish. You can walk over this little swampy pond area on a boardwalk and see the water teeming with them. The pond with duck weed was filled with turtles which were fun to sit and watch.

Parking was $6...