The Morton Arboretum, IL

When Joy Morton established The Morton Arboretum in 1922, he envisioned a “great outdoor museum” of trees. Today, our living collections inspire visitors to appreciate, learn about, plant, and protect trees. The Arboretum champions the world’s trees through plant collections, science and conservation, education, and outreach. Also on the grounds are the Visitor Center with The Arboretum Store and Ginkgo Restaurant and Café, four-acre Children’s Garden, one-acre Maze Garden, Sterling Morton Library, Plant Clinic, nine miles of roads, and 16 miles of trails.

The Morton Arboretum’s 1,700 acres hold more than 222,000 live plants representing nearly 4,300 taxa from around the world. Situated on the rolling Valparaiso moraine and bisected by the East Branch of the DuPage River, the Arboretum is planned and planted to nurture and display trees and shrubs in environments conducive to their growth. The Arboretum conducts leading scientific research on tree health and tree improvement, collects and displays trees for study and enjoyment on the grounds, offers educational programming for adults and children, and presents nature-related activities year-round for people of all ages and interests.

Our hike takes us around the entire Eastside of the grounds. Starting on Loop 1, we connect with Loop 2 then 3 and finally loop 4 to the Big Rock. We return on the opposite of the loops. The Morton Arboretum’s next outdoor art exhibition, Human+Nature, will inspire awe and wonder as it connects people and trees. Internationally renowned artist Daniel Popper created five 15- to 26-foot-tall sculptures exclusively for the Arboretum that will be featured in various locations across its 1,700 acres, leading guests to areas they may not have explored before. It will be his largest exhibition to date anywhere in the world.

“We have frog activity.” The frogs were loud during our hike around loop 3. We both experienced an emotional ease as the sounds soothed our minds. I don’t understand why and I don’t know if these sounds will effect you the same way. All I know is that we each, individually, went into near trance states as we hiked.

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We are at Oaks area near parking lot 8. This is a special learning side path dedicated to Oak Trees. Take a few minutes to check it out and then subscribe to our channel.

We are at the far end of the park along Loop 4. We talk about our connections with nature and then a herd of Deer cross our path. This was such a special moment that we made a stand alone video just for the deer.

Crank up the quality, put your VR Goggles on or view in full screen and see the deer running.

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We stop and observe a clear burn line. You can see what the ground looks like before and after a burn. We’ll return later in the summer to see how the plants have grown. Prescribed burns recycle nutrients and help prevent invasive plant species from taking over. Native plants have deep roots which survive these fires while invasive species do not.

You can find out more about the Big Rock here: https://www.mortonarb.org/places/big-…​

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This hike certainly had its share of outdoor smells. Lots of campfire smells from all the prescribed burns. The smell of Spring was in the air when we started and the smell of rain was in the air when we finished.

We completed the 7.5 mile hike around the East side of The Morton Arboretum. We were both impressed with the grounds and the plants. We’ll have to return for the West side. https://www.mortonarb.org https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/illinois/

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