Guided Tree Tours

Welcome to the Guided Tour Information Page, with details of our guided campus tree walks! When guided tours are available, their dates will also appear here.

Upcoming Guided Tree Tours:

Saturday, October 4th (12pm-2pm): Fossil Trees Tour. Meet at the front of Denny Hall.
- Trees have lived on our planet for over 370 million years! Although most of the ancient trees of the world are long extinct, some lineages have continued for millions and millions of years in a recognizable form! This free guided tour will take a look at some of these "living fossils", and they ways they have adapted to survive into the modern era.

Tuesday, October 7th (12p-1pm): Animal Interactions Tree Tour. Meet at the front of the Life Sciences Building.
- Try to think for a moment about how many animals of the world depend on trees for their day to day life. The forests of our planet support untold numbers of animals, providing food, shelter, habitat, and all kinds of other benefits. On this free guided tour, we will be diving into some particularly close animal associations with different types of trees that can be found on campus!
Tuesday, October 28th (1pm-3pm): Fall Colors Tree Tour. Meet at the Bus Shelter just west of Anderson Hall on Stevens Way.
- Autumn on the UW campus is always a beautiful sight! This fall tour is the best way to learn a bit about the most exceptionally bright colorful trees, see the reds, oranges and yellows, and learn why these trees drop their leaves!

Sunday, November 2nd (1pm-3pm): Fall Colors Tree Tour. Meet at the Bus Shelter just west of Anderson Hall on Stevens Way.
- Autumn on the UW campus is always a beautiful sight! This fall tour is the best way to learn a bit about the most exceptionally bright colorful trees, see the reds, oranges and yellows, and learn why these trees drop their leaves!
Wednesday, November 5th (9:30am-4:00pm): The 2025 Urban Forestry Symposium. Meet at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture.
- BY REGISTRATION ONLY!
- Cost is $110 for in person attendance, $45 dollars for virtual attendance. Discounts are available for Indigenous attendees, UW students, and corps members.
- Register using this link.
Sunday, December 7th (1pm-3pm): Washington Native Trees Tour. Meet at the front entrance of the Burke Museum.
- The evergreen state is known for staying green throughout the cold gray months, so what better way to kick off winter by learning about our beautiful native trees of Washington that are keeping things vibrant this chilly season. This tour will introduce participants to some of our most iconic conifers, as well as a few of the deciduous broadleaf varieties.

What to Expect

Welcome to the UW Guided Tree Tours page! Currently, guided tree tours are offered about once a month, and are free and open to the public with no registration required. These walking tours depart from a variety of places around campus, and generally are attended by between 5 and 30 participants. Since no registration is required, there is no check in list, so please arrive on time to ensure we do not depart without you (the tour usually departs the meeting location within 10 minutes).

Tours generally last about 2 hours, but participants are welcome to leave early if they need. All tours are outdoors so please plan accordingly and dress for the weather! Parking on the UW campus can be difficult at times, so please plan ahead if driving to the tour. Parking rates vary by parking lot and date. There are also many public transit routes available for those wishing to reach campus by bus or rail. In the interest of accessibility, the tour routes are designed to be as wheelchair friendly as is possible on the UW Campus. To request any special accommodations, please email tdhoss@uw.edu. Tour information is also regularly posted on social media at @campus_tree_tours on Instagram.

In this photo, Guided Tree Tour participants meet the Pacific Dogwood, a Pacific Northwest Native with a showy springtime floral display.

Your Tree Tour Guide

UW Campus Tree Tours are conducted by Theodore Hoss, an alum of the Biology and Environmental and Forest Sciences programs at the University of Washington. While a student, he helped redesign the campus' historic Brockman Memorial Tree Tour. He has maintained and updated the website and curated the campus tree tours ever since. Theodore has worked for years as an environmental educator and as a National Park Ranger, providing interpretation on forests, wildlife, and human connections to the landscape. He continues studying trees and forests through a Natural Resources graduate program at Oregon State University. He is a member of the Arboretum Bulletin Editorial Board, and enjoys backpacking, kayaking, hiking, and just about anything else outside in his free time. If you have any questions regarding the tours, or would like to request some form of accommodation, feel free to reach out at tdhoss@uw.edu. Theodore conducts these tours on a voluntarily basis, with no direct affiliation with the University of Washington.

Tour Format

These Guided Tours are designed to provide participants with an informative and engaging learning experience focused on the trees of campus. During each tour, you can expect to learn a bit about tree ecology, human connections to the forest, tree management practices, and tricks to identify different groups of trees. All tours are offered in an interpretive format, with ample time for questions and no specific script. This means every tour is unique, with a different theme and focus, and a fresh perspective each time a tree is visited! Each tour begins with an introduction of the tour theme and short conversation on the history of the UW Campus Tree Tours, as well as a time for participants to share any particular interests. The group will then depart from the meet-up location and follow a different route across campus that changes from tour to tour depending on the overarching theme. Each tour is designed to supplement and expand upon the self-guided tours on this website, and offer opportunities for asking tree questions, diving into broad science concepts, and connecting with other tour participants. The tours usually last about 2 hours and cover a distance of up to about 1 mile. There is usually time to engage with other participants as we walk between the different specimens on campus. If you have more questions about the tour format or need to request accommodations, please email Theodore Hoss at tdhoss@uw.edu

If you have an RSO, Club, Class, or Organization interested in a guided walking tour of significant trees on campus, you are more than welcome to bring your group along on the free public tours!

If you have already taken the tour and wish to leave feedback, please visit the survey located at the bottom of this page!

Page updated

Report abuse