F.R. Newman Arboretum: a Cornell campus walk

The F.R. Newman Arboretum combines tree and shrub collections with gardens, ponds, and open grounds. Cornell Botanic Gardens describes it as a place for the enjoyment and scientific study of trees and shrubs.

The arboretum’s nine tree collections include maples, oaks, crabapples, dogwoods, urban trees, and nut trees. A shrub collection, streamside garden, and pocket gardens add variety to a walk through the grounds.

Houston and Grossman ponds sit in the heart of the arboretum. Created in the early 1980s, they brought an aquatic ecosystem into Cornell Botanic Gardens’ collections. The landscape’s hills and valleys were carved by Fall Creek following the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago.

The arboretum’s transformation was made possible by a donation from Floyd R. “Flood” Newman, a Cornell class of 1912 graduate, in the 1980s. The landscape now carries his name.

You can combine a woodland walk, streamside gardens, and overlooks in a single visit, choosing paths to suit the terrain. The Treman Woodland Walk follows a hemlock-shaded streamside garden with moisture-loving plants.

The Floriculture War Memorial Trail has boggy areas and running water. The Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca is another Cornell campus landmark to pair with a walk in the gardens.

Newman Overlook and other overlooks and benches provide places to pause for views across the arboretum. Signs at 16 locations offer a two-minute story about a nearby collection or garden; call the number shown at a sign to hear one.

For a route from the Nevin Welcome Center, Cornell gives a walking time of 20 minutes to the center of the arboretum via Mundy Wildflower Garden and the eastern entrance at Forest Home Drive and Caldwell Drive. Mundy Wildflower Garden and Beebe Lake are also nearby Cornell Botanic Gardens sites, each a five-minute walk from the Nevin Welcome Center.

The Cayuga Trail passes through Fall Creek Gorge, Beebe Lake, the Nevin Welcome Center Gardens, Mundy Wildflower Garden, and the arboretum. Cornell describes the trail as over 9½ miles long, so you can include it in a one-day Ithaca route through town and campus.

The gardens and natural areas are free to visit every day of the year, from dawn to dusk. Pedestrians are welcome year-round, but vehicle traffic in the arboretum is closed during the winter months.

Expect a mix of surfaces and gradients rather than one uniform path. Flat areas have paved paths, while the grounds also include gentle slopes and steeply graded hills. Secondary trails may have earth, grass, or wood-chip surfaces.

If you’re planning a visit around seasonal vehicle access or trail conditions, check the official site before you go.

Parking is available in 13 small bays within the arboretum, near trail access points, tree collections, and other points of interest. Cornell says none of these bays is designated accessible parking.

The Mundy Wildflower Garden parking lot, off Caldwell Road at its intersection with Forest Home Drive, is directly across from the arboretum. Parking lots in the arboretum and at Mundy are free.

One portable restroom designated accessible to wheelchair users is near the ponds, across the road from the pond-adjacent parking lots. Plan your route with the changes in slope and the natural surfaces of secondary trails in mind.

Please carry out litter, keep dogs on leash, and clean up after them. Picking plants, flowers, fruit, or vegetables is not allowed; neither are fishing in the ponds, outdoor fires, grilling, or climbing trees and sculptures.

The arboretum is about 33 minutes on foot or about 3 minutes by car from Springwater Inn; browse the inn’s rooms as you plan the campus outing.

Does the F.R. Newman Arboretum charge admission?

No. Cornell Botanic Gardens’ gardens and natural areas are free to visit.

Can you visit the arboretum in winter?

Yes. Pedestrians are welcome year-round, though vehicle traffic in the arboretum is closed during the winter months.

Are the arboretum paths accessible?

Path conditions vary: flat areas have paved paths, while other parts include slopes, steep hills, and secondary trails with earth, grass, or wood-chip surfaces.

Where can you park for the arboretum?

There are small parking bays within the arboretum and a free lot at Mundy Wildflower Garden, directly across from it.