West Virginia University Core Arboretum

The Core Arboretum owes its founding in large part to the WVU Biology Department, specifically biologist Earl Core.  In the immediate postwar era, West Virginia University doubled in enrollment and put pressure on administrators and city planners to configure how the University would grow. Their solution was to acquire farmlands that later became the Evansdale campus.1 The Biology Department and Dr. Core asked the University to set aside this area as it was already being used as a research and teaching space by the department. Much of this land was preserved, old growth forest due to the steep, 200-foot elevation drop that would have been impossible to farm. Originally the arboretum included the land that is now occupied by the WVU Coliseum, Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, baseball fields, and several indoor training facilities used by different WVU Teams. Today, the 91 acres of forest within the Core Arboretum is home to a wide variety of plants and animals indigenous to the region, as well as some trees that are over 200 years old. 

In addition to the Arboretum's namesake, some of the trails at the Arboretum bear the names of important naturalists at WVU, including the  Guthrie Loop (Roland L. Guthrie, curator and professor of Biology), Strausbaugh Loop (Dr. P.D. Strausbaugh, former head of the Biology Department), Taylor Trail (Dr. Leland H. Taylor, former professor of Zoology), Sheldon Trail (Dr. John Lewis Sheldon, former professor of Biology) Melvin Brown Trail (Dr. Melvin Brown, Mineral County botanist and benefactor of WVU), Rumsey Trail (William Earl Rumsey, entomologist and botanist for WVU and the state), and Nuttall Trail (Lawrence William Nuttall, Fayette County amateur biologist).2

The arboretum is famous for its annual Wildflower and Bird Watching Walks that take place every spring, where you can see over 40 different species of flowers as well as over 70 different kinds of birds. The arboretum also hosts a Pawpaw Festival every fall. In addition to these events, the arboretum boasts hiking trails and beautiful scenery that can be enjoyed in all seasons.