Green spaces on and around UMD
Our entire 1,250 acre College Park campus is a convenient and easily accessible Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Explore the following resources to better acquaint yourself with all of the green spacs, gardens, and plants our campus has to offer.
UMD Arboretum Explorer Map
Explore our plant inventory and gardens with this digital inventory
Gardens on Campus
Many locations have been designated as pollinator gardens or native plant gardens, which offer a reprise for students, plants, and insects alike!
Outdoor Art
The Arboretum strives to highlight the artwork installed across our campus landscape.
Roots and Routes
The web-based app, Roots and Routes uses the Campus Plant inventory to show you the plants around you and along your journey.
Parks & Trails Near Campus
There are numerous safe and forested trails on, around, and near campus worth exploring!
- Anacostia Tributary Trail System, an extensive 30-mile trail system, spans the Greater Washington Region.
- Paint Branch Trail is a 3.5 mile trail that runs between the Cherry Hill Neighborhood Park and Lake Artemesia.
- Indian Creek Trail connects Lake Artemesia to Berwyn Heights.
- Trolley Trail along Rhode Island Avenue down towards DC, 3.8 mile hiker/biker path. A permaculture garden resides on the trail in the Berwyn area.
- The Lake Artemesia Trail connects to the Paint Branch Trail, Trolley Trail, Indian Creek Trail and Northeast Branch Trail.
- Northeast Branch Trail begins at Lake Artemesia and runs south of Hyattsville.
- Regional Parks Map
- Greenbelt National Park
- Lake Artemesia
- Greenbelt Lake Park
- National Arboretum and Aquatic Gardens (6 miles from campus)
City of College Park Walking Tours
Berwyn Historic Walking Tour- Lakeland Historic Walking Tour
- Old Town/Calvert Hills Walking Tour
- UMD Ghost Tour: Spooky Sites
Support Sustainable Transportation
25% of all trips in the U.S. are 1 mile or less, and yet most of these trips are taken by car. These <1 mile trips add up to about 10 billion miles per year. If we all chose to power half of these short trips with our feet or bike wheels instead of diesel, we would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by ~2 million metric tons of per year, the equivalent of taking about 400,000 cars off the road each year! We would save about $575 million in fuel costs, with the total financial savings reaching almost $900 million dollars — when you include savings on maintenance and tire replacement. We encourage you to walk, bike or take public transportation to your destinations, especially if it's less than 5 miles away. Source: What If We Kept Our Cars Parked for Trips Less Than One Mile? | US EPA
Wellness
We are all connected to one another, our ecosystem, and other species. Being outside in nature can help remind us of this powerful connection and be a grounding exercise. Spending time outdoors serves as a "reset," by helping to restore directed attention needed for coursework, lowering cortisol and anxiety, and helps regulate sleep cycles. Source: The Proven Link Between Nature and Higher Academic Performance in College. Even short, daily doses of nature (10 minutes) can significantly enhance mood, reduce anxiety, and help students reset, providing a necessary, accessible break from intense, screen-heavy schedules. Source: Spending time in nature reduces stress, research finds
NatureRx
NatureRx@UMD is a new and burgeoning movement, represented by numerous individuals and units within the University of Maryland College Park community, who have come together with a shared passion for the many ways in which the landscape of our campus arboretum and other recreation spaces can heal and preserve the health and well-being of every person. Also recognized as healing spaces are the extensive network of trails throughout Maryland, as well as other natural areas within the Mid-Atlantic, including the Chesapeake Bay.
