Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens Visitor Guide

The Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens at 1445 Millcoe Rd. charges $3 per adult, lets children 3 and younger in free, and opens daily at 8 a.m., closing at 7 p.m. in the warm months and 5 p.m. in winter.

The arboretum sets two seasons of hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from March 12 through November 5, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November 6 through March 11, every day of the week (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page). It closes on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, nobody is admitted in the last 30 minutes before closing, and the gates are locked right at closing time.

Admission at the Jacksonville Arboretum is paid at the Welcome Kiosk after parking, by cash, card or contactless payment, and a membership covers unlimited visits for a year (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page). Questions go to (904) 318-4342 (Jacksonville Arboretum).

A timing note for late afternoon walkers: the arboretum home page shows only the summer schedule of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. with last entry at 6:30 p.m. (Jacksonville Arboretum), while the visit page moves closing to 5 p.m. from November 6. The City of Jacksonville page also lists 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and sends readers to the arboretum for current hours and fees (City of Jacksonville). From November 6, 2026, an Arlington visitor arriving after 4:30 p.m. will find the Millcoe Road gate closed to new entries.

The Lake Loop Trail is the Jacksonville Arboretum route for strollers and wheelchairs: a 0.3 mile firm, wide path around Lake Ray, graded easiest, while the other six trails are graded moderate to extreme difficult.

Lake Ray is a two acre, man made lake, and the Lake Loop drops about 25 feet between the trailhead and its eastern side before climbing back (Jacksonville Arboretum trails). The City of Jacksonville describes the same circuit as a stabilized walkway with interpretive signs and more than 100 labeled plants, and adds that over three miles of rustic hiking trails wind through the rest of the Millcoe Road property (City of Jacksonville).

The Live Oak Trail at the Jacksonville Arboretum passes through pine flatwoods and dry prairie flatwoods, where native blueberries and Florida azaleas may bloom in spring (Jacksonville Arboretum trails). The arboretum trail page calls the loblolly bay along this trail the National Champion Loblolly Bay in one sentence and the world champion loblolly bay in another. The Jones Creek Trail rises and falls nearly 25 feet through jurisdictional wetlands, with exposed roots and a large cypress near its junction with the Lake Loop; the creek water is mostly fresh but turns brackish as it heads north.

Volunteers from the Student Conservation Association built the Lower Ravine Trail at the Jacksonville Arboretum, and the Aralia Trail crosses a natural seep that turns wet and muddy after rain (Jacksonville Arboretum trails). Benches sit on every trail, and paved walkways at the entrance and on the Lake Loop are handicap accessible (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page).

Leashed dogs are welcome at the Jacksonville Arboretum on leashes no longer than 8 feet, but they are kept out of the gated Rosemary Scrub Vista and out of the lake and creeks.

The arboretum cites City Ordinance 462.102 for its 8 foot leash limit and requires owners to clean up after their pets (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page). Visitors and dogs alike must stay on marked trails and out of water bodies at the Jacksonville Arboretum. The trail page adds that no dogs may use the Rosemary Scrub Trail, where fragile deer moss grows in soft sand (Jacksonville Arboretum trails).

Other Jacksonville Arboretum rules surprise some first time visitors: bicycles, scooters, skateboards and drones are not allowed on the trails, though bike racks are provided; fishing and camping are not permitted; and feeding fish, birds, gopher tortoises or alligators is forbidden (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page). Sports equipment such as footballs, soccer balls and Frisbees is also on the prohibited list.

Children under 18 must be with a responsible adult at the Jacksonville Arboretum, at a ratio of one adult for every three minors (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page). Professional photography sessions need a permit, and private parties or weddings need prior approval and may need a site rental contract.

The Jacksonville Arboretum sits on City of Jacksonville land but is run by a private nonprofit, Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens, Inc., which leases the property from the city.

JaxParks lists the arboretum among its parks and says it is developed and managed by a nonprofit entity that leases the land from the City of Jacksonville (City of Jacksonville). The arboretum puts it more bluntly on its visit page: it is not a city park and is privately managed by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page). The City of Jacksonville page sends visitors to the arboretum website for hours of operation and admission fees (City of Jacksonville).

The acreage depends on which page is read. The City of Jacksonville page and the arboretum trail page both say 120 acres (City of Jacksonville; Jacksonville Arboretum trails), while the Jacksonville Arboretum home page says 136 acres across 13 distinct ecosystems and seven trails (Jacksonville Arboretum). Neither page explains the difference.

The home page lists the ecosystems on the Jacksonville Arboretum grounds as freshwater and tidal marshes, upland hardwood forests, pine flatwoods, dry prairies, bottomland forests and live oak hammocks (Jacksonville Arboretum). The city amenity list for the site includes benches, car parking, a drinking fountain, a hiking trail, picnic shelters, picnic tables, restrooms, a scenic overlook and trash barrels (City of Jacksonville).

Before the Jacksonville Arboretum opened on November 15, 2008, its Arlington land had been a railroad route, a mineral mine, a city buffer around a wastewater plant and, for about thirty years, a dumping ground.

The arboretum's own history page tells the story this way. From roughly 1888 to 1895 the Jacksonville, Mayport and Pablo Railroad crossed the site, carrying passengers and freight between the city and Mayport and the beach land that is now Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park (Jacksonville Arboretum history). After the tracks came up, the old rail bed served as a wagon road.

In 1944 the Humphries Gold Mining Company dug parts of the Arlington area for rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite, and mining ended in 1961 (Jacksonville Arboretum history). Tailings from that era are still visible at the north end of the Jacksonville Arboretum and around the Millcoe Road parking lot.

The City of Jacksonville bought the land in the 1970s as a buffer between a new regional wastewater treatment plant and neighborhoods to the east, and for the next thirty years the property drew dumped trash, construction waste and auto parts while the lake and borrow pits were dug (Jacksonville Arboretum history). In 2003 a citizens group proposed an arboretum on the site; the City, JEA and the EPA agreed, and in 2004 the nonprofit was formed and leased the property.

The Jacksonville Arboretum entrance has the Pollinator Garden, an accessible restroom and water bottle refill station, and five picnic tables near the entrance, while the Fernery is a newer addition to the palm garden.

The Pollinator Garden at the Jacksonville Arboretum entrance gives visitors their first look at the property, and the Fernery was added to the palm garden with a grant from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust (Jacksonville Arboretum gardens). The trail page also lists newly planted palm, tea, pollinator and raised bed gardens, with QR codes on trail posts that open points of interest (Jacksonville Arboretum trails).

The arboretum visit page lists five picnic tables near the entrance and says there is currently no shelter (Jacksonville Arboretum visit page), while the City of Jacksonville amenity list still includes picnic shelters (City of Jacksonville). Visitors who want to help can join the Wednesday Workday, the arboretum's regular volunteer shift from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. for weeding, pruning, planting and mulching (Jacksonville Arboretum). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Jacksonville Arboretum and City of Jacksonville websites.