UW Botanic Gardens: University of Washington Campus Walking Tour

Relocated from downtown northward to larger, less-developed acreage in 1895, the University of Washington consisted of just six buildings when the Olmsted Brothers firm prepared a general campus plan in 1903. John Charles Olmsted returned in 1906 to design the grounds for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE), which attracted over three million people to Seattle (population 240,000) that year. Olmsted incorporated the campus into the overall city park system and encouraged the university’s regents to reserve part of the campus for public park uses. Today it is an important element of the city’s open space infrastructure.

Cost: $30 Order tickets here. Financial aid slots available on a first-come, first-served basis.