UW Campus Nature Breaks

Our campus holds a collection of quiet, restorative green spaces — places where you can pause, breathe deeply, and let your senses reset. Whether you linger for a few minutes or lose track of time entirely, a small nature break can bring you back to your day feeling refreshed and re-centered.

Campus Green Spaces

Tropical plants inside the Biology GreenhouseBiology Greenhouse

For nearly 70 years, the Biology Greenhouse has played a vital role in research and teaching. Whether focusing on plant-pollinator interactions, paleoclimatology, or other biological questions, our teaching collection has enhanced and inspired UW biological research. It is open to the public on Wednesday afternoons from 12-4 pm.

Navigate to the Biology Greenhouse

The Burke-Gilman strolling and biking trail lined with treesBurke-Gilman Trail

The region’s premier multi-use trail goes right through campus. What used to be a railway corridor is now the primary option for non-motorized transport across the city. The entire way is paved and can be traveled in its entirety or sampled here and there for a quick neighborhood stroll or connection to one of the many parks that sit along its edge.

Pink and white blooming rhododendronsGrieg Garden

Once a parking lot, Grieg Garden is now a cozy clearing surrounded by trees and flowering shrubs. Situated on the north side of the HUB Yard, it’s best viewed in the spring, when rhododendrons and azaleas frame the space in drifts of lavender, crimson, magenta and pink.

Navigate to Grieg Garden

Cherry blossoms in bloom at The UW QuadLiberal Arts Quadrangle (the Quad)

The Quad is lined with thirty Yoshino cherry trees, which draw sightseers when they blossom. But it doesn’t have to be the last weeks of March or the first weeks of April for the Quad to work its magic. Summer offers deep shade and sudden sunshine; the fall offers crimson leaves and crisp vistas.

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A rooftop gardenMcMahon Hall Culinary Garden

The McMahon Hall garden was built in 2016, and is designed to illustrate the various styles and possibilities for urban sustainable agriculture. The harvested veggies go straight to a campus community center, a mere 30-second walk from the farm. Campus farms play an important role in promoting local food resources around campus.

Navigate to McMahon Hall

Garden beds with herbal plants from around the world at the UW Medicinal Herb GardenMedicinal Herb Garden

The Medicinal Herb Garden was created  by the UW Pharmacy Department in 1911. It contains more than two acres devoted to a wide variety of medicinal, food, fiber, dye and ceremonial plants from around the world.  This peaceful spot contains more than 500 medicinal herbs.

Navigate to the Medicinal Herb Garden

A student holds up their large harvest of kale from UW Farm at Mercer Court. Mercer Court Urban Farm

Started in 2013, Mercer Court has almost half an acre in production. This urban farm has become an important part of the student community by promoting education about food in the urban environment and providing a more interesting backyard for residents of Mercer Court. The site shows that farming is fun and doesn’t have to be miles out of a city.

Navigate to Mercer Court Urban Farm

Mount Rainier in the background and Drumheller Fountain in the foregroundRainier Vista

More than a century after its completion, Rainier Vista persists as one of the University of Washington campus’ most defining features. Before you hovers Mount Rainier (Indigenous name: Tahoma), a 14,411-foot mass of snow and rock. The Vista is adjacent to Drumheller Fountain, another campus icon.

Navigate to Rainier Vista

The sign for the entrance of the Soest Herbaceous Display Garden surrounded by purple irises. Soest Herbaceous Display Garden

The Soest Herbaceous Display Garden opened to the public in 1998 thanks to the generosity of Orin and Althea Soest. The garden was created to help local gardeners select plants appropriate to a variety of site conditions commonly found in Pacific Northwest urban gardens. This garden features over 280 kinds of herbaceous (non-woody) plants that include perennials, annuals, and bulbs.

Navigate to Soest Herbaceous Display Garden

A person walking through the tall grasses at the Union Bay Natural Area.Union Bay Natural Area and Preserve

The Union Bay Natural Area is a public wildlife area, natural restoration laboratory, and an important habitat next to Lake Washington. At 74 acres, with 4 miles of shoreline, it is the second largest natural system left on the lake. Considered one of the best bird-watching sites in the city of Seattle, over 200 species of birds have been sighted here.

Navigate to Union Bay

Flowers blooming and a greenhouse at UW FarmUW Farm at the Center for Urban Horticulture

Not far from Husky Stadium is one of the UW’s best-kept secrets — the UW Farm at the Center for Urban Horticulture. This 1.5 acre verdant oasis, where students and community members work the land year-round, is one of three growing sites for the UW Farm, which produces fresh certified-organic produce for campus dining, the UW Food Pantry and the community.

Navigate to the UW Farm

 

Self Guided Tours

Have a little more time to explore? These self guided tours will help you experience the most of our campus green spaces.

A group of tour participants observing cherry blossom trees on campus while a guide talksBrockman Memorial Tree Tour

The University of Washington has over 10,000 trees growing on campus, and this historic tour offers a look at some of the most significant of them. The tour map includes the location of each of these exceptional trees. Depending on pace and the level of engagement, this loop can take between one to four hours. The route is about 2.3 miles in length, and avoids stairs in an effort to be accessible for different abilities (however, please note that the UW Campus is a hilly place). Visit the Tours page to see upcoming professionally-guided tree tours.

A forested area on campus called Heron HavenForest Bathing

Forest bathing is a simple relaxation activity for people of all ages to de-stress and boost their health and well-being. This forest bathing map highlights suggested forest bathing spaces on all three University of Washington campuses.

Owen Oliver stands in front of the Guests of the Great River display at the Burke Museum. The piece consists of 11 large-scale bronze paddles representing the arrival of a Chinookan canoe carrying cultural heroes of the Columbia River region, and with them the knowledge they embody. Indigenous Walking Tour

The story map and full color booklet tells the story of Indigenous places through an Indigenous community member’s eyes across seven stops on campus. Stops include the Burke Museum, wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Intellectual House, Indigenous artworks, the Medicinal Herb Garden, the Ethnic Cultural Center, the Husky Union Building (HUB), and Union Bay Natural Area. Learn more about this project or view the virtual tour.

 

Access More Wild Nature

The Pacific Northwest’s breathtaking trails, old-growth forests, and coastal viewpoints are closer than you think. Here are a few ways to get there without needing your own wheels.

People vanpooling to a hiking site.Trailhead Direct

Trailhead Direct is a seasonal service that operates on weekends and designated holidays. This public transportation service picks up people at stops in Seattle and Bellevue and takes them to trailheads on Mount Si and the Issaquah Alps. The service provides rides every 30 minutes. Fares range from $0-3.

Trailhead Direct is provided by King County Metro, in partnership with King County Parks and Seattle Department of Transportation and sponsored by Amazon. This project seeks to ease vehicle congestion, reduce safety hazards and expand access to hiking destinations along I-90.

A Sound Transit train at a stop with the Cascade mountain range in the background.Sound Transit

Blog posts from Sound Transit highlight how to get to natural spots around the region via public transit. A few popular destinations include Silver Lake in Everett, Twin Ponds Park in Shoreline, Mercer Slough Nature Park in Bellevue, Kubota Garden in Rainier Beach, Marymoor Park in Redmond, and Wright Park in Tacoma. King County Trip Planner is another tool for planning public transportation around the region.

A shuttle bus called the Dungeness Line Shuttles and Trains

Several shuttle busses and train services run throughout the region. They’ll cost more than public transit, but they’ll also take you further and to more places. A few examples include:

– The Dungeness Line running between Seattle and Port Angeles
– The Amtrak Cascades train traveling between Washington and British Columbia

 

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