{"id":179622,"date":"2025-08-27T11:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/179622\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T11:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:48:09","slug":"a-hidden-oasis-amid-arlingtons-urban-hustle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/179622\/","title":{"rendered":"A hidden oasis amid Arlington\u2019s urban hustle"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 The Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is an oasis amid bustling Arlington off Millcoe Road.<\/p>\n

The Arboretum is a place where you can disappear from the hustle and bustle of the neighborhoods and businesses that you traditionally think of in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Wander the property and you know what you\u2019ll hear? Peace and quiet and the glorious sounds of nature.<\/p>\n

The Arboretum is a place where you can disappear from the hustle and bustle of the neighborhoods and businesses that you traditionally think of in Arlington. (Ciara Earrey\/News4JAX)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a far cry from the traffic on the Arlington Expressway or the once common sounds of shoppers clamoring at the Regency Square Mall.<\/p>\n

There are wooded trails to wander, a beautiful lake and more natural habitats than you can count on the 120-acre protected preserve.<\/p>\n

Put on your hiking boots, and you actually have seven rustic trails from which to choose.<\/p>\n

The Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is a far cry from the traffic on the Arlington Expressway or the once common sounds of shoppers clamoring at the Regency Square Mall. (Ciara Earrey\/News4JAX)<\/p>\n

Allow yourself plenty of time to connect with nature and get lost in the surroundings of the stunning botanical beauty.<\/p>\n

The vibrant urban forest wasn\u2019t always this beautiful. <\/p>\n

Turn back the hands of time, and you\u2019ll find that between 1944 and 1961, the area was a titanium mine. The city bought the land in the 1970s as a natural buffer between a new wastewater treatment plant and neighborhoods. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a far cry from the way the Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is today.<\/p>\n

The Arboretum officially opened in 2004, and there are plans to open a new Children\u2019s Garden in the next several years. It\u2019s part of a master plan to improve the gardens, grow the facility and create an educational experience. <\/p>\n

You actually have seven rustic trails from which to choose at the Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. (Ciara Earrey\/News4JAX)<\/p>\n

Among other things in the design plans are a waterfall, a rock climb and a toddler Puddle Play area.<\/p>\n

There is no firm timeline to complete the Children\u2019s Garden. The Arboretum\u2019s Executive Director Dana Doody says the hope is to finish the project within two to five years. She said it all depends on construction schedules and raising money for the project.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is an oasis amid bustling Arlington off Millcoe Road.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":179623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[57902,5229,718,746,3188,723,7310,101548,101547,12013,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-179622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-4-your-neighborhood","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-community","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-fl","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville-arboretum","16":"tag-jacksonville-arboretum-and-botanical-gardens","17":"tag-morning-show","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115100576083019544","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}