It’s post-regular season, and football season is almost wrapped up altogether. Yet, my little one is still walking around the house with Knightro and singing the UCF Chant song. I was looking for ways for my family to enjoy even more about UCF all year round, and I remembered something from all the times we drove by for football games – the Arboretum!

So, I decided to go explore, packed a little snack and some water, and headed to campus. We paid to park in Garage C because it’s literally right there next to the Arboretum entrance. I’m sure you can find free parking on campus and walk over, but $5 is a small price to pay to not carry a kid miles across campus!

This thing is huge. Apparently, it started as just 12 acres back in 1988, but now it’s about 82 acres. We started on the trail, and I was so pleasantly surprised. You feel really disconnected from the campus, and it was very peaceful.

And the wildlife was awesome! We saw a turtle up close (but not too close) and this really weird-looking bug. My daughter, being the 1-year-old she is, decided the sand paths were the best toy a girl could ask for, too, so we spent a lot of time with her just moving around sand and then being very concerned her hands were messy!

That being said, we didn’t even get close to exploring the full trails of the Arboretum. I really want to go back! Let me know in the comments below if you and your family have any non-football activities on campus that you like to enjoy!

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