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Lincoln Park Arboretum
Lincoln Park is home to many extraordinary trees and the Arboretum highlights 69 of the most notable.
Thank You
Thank you to all of our sponsors and volunteers who spent endless time on this project. This has been an incredible journey for us all, a journey that would not have been obtainable had it not been for the effort of so many people.
Ryan Gibb, a local Eagle Scout, came to Grand Junction Parks and Recreation with an offer to provide his volunteer services to our community by way of a service project. Little did anyone know, that his services would bring to life a decades-old dream for Grand Junction to have an arboretum to showcase the amazing trees in our community and parks. The Arboretum is an educational element of a larger renovation to Lincoln Park. It serves as an outdoor tree museum providing educational opportunities for the local schools, child care facilities, and institutions of higher learning.
Ryan's work with the project consisted of placing 70 tree markers throughout the park. He rallied 35 volunteers to dig post holes, place the large posts, cement them in place, and finally stain all of them in preparation for plaques. Ryan's ability to plan, organize, and lead such a worthwhile project of immense community benefit will provide lasting impact to the users of Lincoln Park, the neighbors, the local schools, and visitors to the community for generations to come.
Strategic Goals
- Provide informative research and creative educational programs for students and the public
- Function as a living laboratory which resides in and complements the curricula of our local schools
- Provide visitors with an inspirational and educational experience and an opportunity to connect to the natural world
Touring the Arboretum
Follow along with a virtual map right on your smartphone. Read about each tree species or watch the videos to learn more.
Audio / Visual Tour
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1 Weeping Mulberry
It is currently the state champion meaning it is the largest known specimen in the state.
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2 Canada Red Chokecherry
The highlight of this tree is its leaf color, emerging green and turning a deep maroon color as they mature.
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3 Hackberry
It is a large, Colorado native shade tree that is well adapted to our area because it tolerates drought conditions well.
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4 Giant Sequoia
It is native to the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California but can also be grown on the western slope of Colorado.
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5 Red Horsechesnut
This tree is a hybrid created by crossing horse chestnut with red buckeye.
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6 Yellowhorn
It is native China and can grow as either a large shrub or a small tree, up to 25 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide.
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7 Flamingo Boxelder
This boxelder’s claim to fame is its leaves.
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8 Ivory Silk Lilac
This is an ornamental tree, reaching a height of up to 30 feet and up to a 15 foot spread.
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9 Bechtel Crabapplee
This tree is mainly planted for its beautiful double pink fragrant flowers.
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10 Autumn Blaze Maple
It is primarily planted for its fall color, a bright red.
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11 Swamp White Oak
The swamp white oak is native to the eastern United States but can tolerate our clay soils.
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12 Bur Oak
This is a large shade tree with a height of 50 feet by 40 feet spread and is native to North America.
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13 Aristocrat Pear
This is a great pear selection with an unusual growth habit, as it has an open and spreading branch structure, making it more resistant to storm damage.
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14 Thornless Cockspur Hawthorn
This is a small tree that can grow up to 30 feet tall and up to 35 feet wide.
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15 Dawn Redwood
The Dawn Redwood is a deciduous conifer that is native to China.
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16 Mulberry
This fruiting mulberry has a broad spreading crown and needs to have plenty of room to grow.
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17 Summit Ash
Summit ash is a green ash variety that requires pruning to develop a strong central leader.
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18 Spring Snow Crabapple
Among the most popular ornamentals, this tree is noted for its beautiful white fragrant flowers in the spring.
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19 Lacebark Elm
This elm is often confused with the less desirable, inferior, very common Siberian elm.
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20 Bristlecone Pine
The Bristlecone Pine is native to Colorado and grows naturally at higher elevations.
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21 American Elm
This large beautiful stately tree once graced many streets throughout Colorado and the country until Dutch Elm disease created havoc over the past 60 years.
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22 Purple Robe Locust
This spring flowering tree has long droops of purple fragrant flowers.
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23 Apricot
The apricot has a long colorful history of cultivation by humans.
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24 Atlas Cedar
This interesting and picturesque tree is pyramidal in form and slow to grow in western Colorado.
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25 Incense Cedar
This evergreen conifer has a narrow pyramidal shape and can grow up to 50 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide.
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26 Green Ash
It is native to Colorado and widely planted throughout the state.
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27 Frontier Elm
This hybrid elm has an attractive vase shape and can reach heights of up to 40 feet with a spread of up to 35 feet.
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28 London Plane
This tree is a hybrid cross between sycamore and oriental planetree.
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29 Austrian Pine
In Colorado has become a favorite ornamental pine and is planted throughout our community.
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30 Western Catalpa
This is a large irregularly shaped shade tree with a height of up to 50 feet and a spread of up to 35 feet.
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31 Birchbark Cherry
This tree was originally planted as a Kwanzan Cherry.
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32 Ornamental Crabapple
In the nursery market there are hundreds of named crabapple cultivars with different growth habits, leaf color, fruit size and blossom color.
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33 Littleleaf Linden
It comes to the United States from Europe.
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34 American Linden
Native to the eastern United States, this is a tall and reliable shade tree.
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35 Eastern Redbud
Native to the United States this is an excellent small to medium-sized tree for the area, with a height up to 25 feet and a spread up to 30 feet.
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36 Shumard Oak
This tree is very tolerant to high pH soils and is considered a drought tolerant species.
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37 Siberian Elm
This tree is considered the hardiest of all elms.
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38 Ponderosa Pine
This is a large evergreen tree which is native to Colorado and can be found throughout the state in the higher elevations but it is challenging to grow in our valley.
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39 Buckthorn
The Buckthorn is a non-native woody shrub or tree that can reach a height up to 20 feet with similar spread.
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40 Eastern Cottonwood
Picturesque in summer and winter, coarse ascending branches often form a narrow crown.
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41 Utah Juniper
This is an upright juniper that grows in the Midwestern and Rocky Mountain regions of western North America and is tolerant of drought and alkaline soils.
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42 Redspire Pear
This pear has glossy green leaves that turn crimson and purple in the fall.
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43 Blue Spruce
This is Colorado’s state tree and is native to the Rocky Mountains, usually found along streamsides at higher elevations.
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44 Sensational Boxelder
This tree has a pyramidal habit as a young tree, becoming more elliptical with maturity.
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45 Russian Hawthorn
This is a small ornamental tree that will grow up to 25 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide.
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46 Scotch Pine
This is a common landscape tree that is adaptable to a wide variety of soils.
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47 Ornamental Pear
The flowering pear has many attributes and once established is heat and drought tolerant.
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48 White Spruce
This is a new tree we have planted to observe its success and potential for the valley.
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49 Kentucky Coffeetree
This is a beautiful specimen tree with a height of up to 50 feet and spread of up to 35 feet.
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50 Norway Maple
It is a broad tree growing up to 40 feet with a spread of up to 25 feet.
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51 Linden Hybrid
The Linden tree makes an elegant shade tree when adapted to the proper site.
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52 Autumn Purple Ash
This is a popular ash in the valley with a rapid growth rate and a large rounded crown, mature size can be up to 60 feet tall with a spread of up to 45 feet, and therefore it needs plenty of space to grow.
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53 Crimson King Norway Maple
The main attribute of this tree is its maroon-yellow flowers in the spring and its purple-red leaves.
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54 Mountain Ash
This tree is not drought or heat tolerant and prefers moist, well-drained soils.
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55 Tri Color Beech
This tree has unusual foliage; early spring leaves are purple becoming green with marbled silvery-white and cream color edges as they mature.
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56 Tuliptree
The tuliptree is site sensitive, favoring full sun, moist, well drained, and slightly acidic soils.
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57 Limber Pine
The limber pine is a Colorado native that grows in harsh environments, usually at higher elevations.
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58 Turkish Filbert
These trees can deal well with temperature extremes, snowstorms and windstorms once established in the landscape.
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59 Golden Rain
This is a beautiful ornamental tree that is interesting to look at all summer long.
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60 English Oak
This oak tree has the potential to become a large shade tree at maturity, reaching a height up to 50 feet with a spread of up to 40 feet.
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61 Sugar Maple
The Sugar Maple is a landscape standout but a sensitive tree to grow in our valley.
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62 Winter King Hawthorn
Winter King Hawthorn is a North American native tree which grows up to 30 feet in height and spread.
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63 Thornless Honeylocust
This is a fast-growing tree with fragrant spring flowers.
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64 Ginkgo
The Ginkgo is a very unique tree.
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65 Pinyon Pine
It is native throughout the southwest region and found growing in very dry conditions with Juniper.
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66 Green Vase Zelkova
This is an interesting tree because of dark green foliage, vase shaped growth habit and attractive smooth, gray bark, that exfoliates as it matures.
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67 Crimson Cloud Hawthorn
This tree has an upright oval growth habit and when established it can grow more than a foot a year, which may require regular pruning maintenance.
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68 Newport Plum
This hardy plum is known for their dark purple leaf which makes it an attractive landscape plant.
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69 Rocky Mountain Juniper
Some Colorado locals call these trees Cedars.
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Parks & Recreation
Physical Address
1340 Gunnison Avenue
Grand Junction, CO 81501
Phone: 970-254-3866
Hours
Monday through Friday
8 am to 5 pm
Closed for Lunch
Noon to 1 pm