About Us

The Arboretum serves a multitude of functions for the College and the greater New London community. For the college academic program, especially Botany, Biology, and Environmental Studies, it is a living laboratory just a few steps from the classroom and dormitory. Generations of faculty and students have used the forests, meadows and wetlands for teaching and research.

For the entire student body, the Arboretum provides a welcome connection with the natural world, a place to get away from the stress of classroom and dorm. Parts are available for running, and all trails are suitable for hiking or casual strolling.

The Arboretum is open everyday, dawn to dusk, and serves as park for the surrounding communities. Dog walkers, parents with young children, and office workers out for a quiet lunch break are all frequent users.

Visitors to the Native Plant Collection will find a notice board and a free self-guided tour brochure at the main entrance on Williams Street. Additional information is available at the Arboretum Office in 103 Olin Science Center directly north of the main college entrance from Rt. 32. For visitors arriving after office hours, a variety of informational brochures are available on a rack outside the office door.

The Arboretum is open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset with a self- guided tour brochure located at the main entrance to the Native Plant Collection. Please refrain from organized sports, mountain biking, camping, creating fires or driving vehicles within the Arboretum, as these activities are damaging to the ecology of the Arboretum. Jogging is permitted in the eastern sector on the designated jogging trails between Rt. 32 and the Thames River. Please limit jogging in the Arboretum to this area. Alcoholic beverages may not be brought into the Arboretum. Thank you, and please enjoy.