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The Gardens at SIUE

Nature & parks
In Edwardsville, Illinois
1.1 mi from Route 66

The Gardens at SIUE started out as an arboretum at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in Edwardsville, IL, and now fill 35 acres of the large campus as a botanical garden. The garden does double duty as an outdoor classroom for students and researchers and as a pleasant place for anyone to walk. It sits about a mile off the old road on the Illinois side of the St. Louis area, a peaceful stop before or after the river crossing.

What is The Gardens at SIUE?

The garden takes up a 35-acre piece of a university campus that spreads over roughly 2,660 acres. It started life as an arboretum, a planted collection of trees, and has been growing into a fuller botanical garden since.

Its purpose is split in two. For the university it is a working lab where classes meet and research happens outdoors. For everyone else it is simply somewhere green and quiet to spend time, open to the public as well as the campus.

History of The Gardens at SIUE

The master plan lays out a long-term goal: a public garden with strong plantings, spaces for events and gatherings, and quieter areas meant for reflection, all added in stages over the years.

For a time the Missouri Botanical Garden, across the river in St. Louis, named it one of its Signature Gardens. That recognition ended when the St. Louis garden dropped the program.

Visiting The Gardens at SIUE: tips

The gardens are about 1.1 miles off the Route 66 corridor in Edwardsville. Allow an hour for an easy walk. The site reports wheelchair access. Since it is a campus, check where visitors may park before you arrive.

Nearby, Bohm Woods Nature Preserve is about 0.7 miles away. For history, the Governor Coles State Memorial is about 1.1 miles off, and the St. Louis Street Historic District, with its row of 1800s homes, is about 1.3 miles away.