Things to do / Travel Guide
From gardens with grazing horses to prim and proper estate grounds, at the botanical gardens of the Central Kentucky and Tennessee region you'll walk through bluegrass, tour Opryland, and enjoy a kind of “riding” that doesn't require you to saddle up.
Central Kentucky Botanical Gardens and Arboretums
Of course you can see horses at the Kentucky Horse Park Arboretum in Lexington, but when it comes to trees, you can also keep your expectations high. The arboretum contains more than 1,000 trees of more than 75 species (half native to Kentucky), many of which date back to the 1700s. Trees are marked with common and scientific names, making self-guided tours enjoyable as well as educational.
Also in Lexington, The University of Kentucky Arboretum highlights the varied flora of the state of Kentucky, form the Mississippi River to the Cumberland Mountains, with lots of Bluegrass in between.
Many other lavish Kentucky estates and mansions are situated on lush, beautifully-manicured gardens. If you enjoy the combination of ornate architecture and lush landscape, there are several Kentucky homes you may want to visit: Ashland (the Henry Clay estate), in Lexington (600 acres with formal gardens); Historic Locust Grove, in Louisville (55 acres); Whitehall, also in Louisville (2-acre formal Florentine garden); and the McDowell House, Apothecary, and Gardens, in Danville. And, in Bardstown, My Old Kentucky Home State Park includes a historic mansion as well as formal gardens.
Nashville and Central Tennessee Botanical Gardens
The 30,000-square foot Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, in Nashville, is a Georgian mansion situated on the 55-acre Tennessee Botanical Gardens that once belonged to the Cheek family. Today the gardens include a unique cloud forest simulation exhibit, an overwhelmingly diverse collection of orchids (500 species), narcissus (300 cultivars), and one of the largest collections of trillium in the U.S. (more than 50 species). Walk through the well-pruned Japanese Gardens or along the eight-acre Sculpture Trail under upper canopy shade trees.
Also in Nashville, the antebellum Belmont Mansion, located on Belmont University campus, is situated on beautifully-manicured gardens featuring five cast-iron gazebos as well as marble statues. But no experience in Nashville is complete without a touch of the Opry. And, like everything Opry-esque, Opryland Hotel's Delta and Cascade Conservatory, both inside the Opryland Hotel gives you a taste of a rainforest, complete with waterfalls, tropical plants and a babbling brook..
For an pleasant stroll among native Tennessee trees, visit Nashville's Vanderbilt University Arboretum.
Stop off in Chattanooga and learn a new meaning of the word “riding” at Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. With twelve miles of hiking trails and a three mile road loop, there is much to explore and learn. You will have already learnt that a “riding” is an 18th century English term for a winding trail through a progressing landscape. The landscape changes as you walk through it. Give it a try.
And while you're in Chattanooga, you can casually chug over to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Gardens to enjoy more than 800 rosebushes, nearly 200 varieties of daylilies, a lovely herb garden, and a water garden, home to 400 fish. You'll see a heck of a lot more than rocks at the Rock City Gardens when you hike to the top of Lookout Mountain (Georgia side). These stunning gardens comprised of over 400 plant species surround massive ancient rock formations and the backdrop of sweeping panoramas historically billed as the “See 7 States View.”
Botanical Gardens in Nashville, Louisville and Lexington in Central Kentucky and Tennessee
Botanical-Gardens
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest - Clermont, Kentucky
Kentucky Horse Park Arboretum - Lexington, Kentucky
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