Two miles of new hiking trails, a new springtime bicycling option, and thousands upon thousands of beautiful, blooming plants promise to make this spring a special one for visitors of the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill. 

Nature is awakening across the Arboretum’s 1,700 acres, sending out a burst of color. Currently in full bloom are white and purple crocuses, blue glory of the snows and yellow winter aconite, with its buttercup-like flowers. Daffodils are beginning to peek out, as are Cornelian-cherry dogwoods with yellow flowers, plus dark magenta Lenten roses and white Christmas roses.

This is the first-ever spring that Arboretum visitors can enjoy the outdoor museum from a bicycle. Cycling is now permitted on nine miles of paved roads. Bike racks are available in various locations so that cyclists can park and walk deeper into the collections, if they wish.

Two new trail loops are expected to be completed by April 25. One loop winds through the Japan collection. The other traverses the China, Central and Western Asia, Eastern U.S. Wetlands, and Appalachia collections.

“People should not miss the new loop from China to Appalachia, which passes around a ravine, because the views of the collections are especially stunning,” says Peggy Pelkonen, the Arboretum’s landscape architect and designer of the trails.

The Arboretum contains collections of more than 4,100 kinds of trees, shrubs and other plants from around the world. It also contains the largest collection of flowering trees in the Midwest, including show-stopping crabapples and redbuds. This year, 100,000 daffodils greet visitors with brilliant yellows and whites.

Located at the intersection of I-188 and Route 53, the Arboretum is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. or sunset, whichever is earlier. For more information, visit www.mortonarb.org.