About Lyon Arboretum

Who we are (video)

What is Lyon Arboretum?

A public garden: We are a public botanical garden with a special emphasis on trees—hence the arbor in arboretum. You can visit us Mondays through Fridays, 8 am – 4 pm, or Saturdays 9 am – 3 pm. Admission to Lyon Arboretum is free, but we do accept donations with your admission. The suggested donation amount is $5-$10 per person. We host approximately 50,000 visitors each year who come to explore our trails, participate in community classes, volunteer, or visit with a school field trip or university group, and work on research projects.

A place for research: Lyon Arboretum is a research unit of the University of Hawaiʻi. In addition to offering public programs and hiking trails, we provide many opportunities to the scientific community. As a botanical garden, our grounds offer more than pretty plants and scenic views. We are an outdoor museum with a living collection of plants. Over 6,000 taxa of tropical and sub-tropical plants can be found throughout our grounds, and more are stored “behind the scenes” in our seed lab and micropropagation lab. Our major emphases are tropical plants, native Hawaiian plants, conservation biology, and Hawaiian ethnobotany.

More Resources About Lyon

Fast Facts About Lyon Arboretum

Area: 193.5 acres (78.3 hectares)

Elevation: 450 to 1850 feet (137 to 564 meters)

Average Temperature: 78° F; 25.6° C

Temperature: ranges from 52° F to 90° F; 11.1° C to 32.2° C

Average Rainfall: 165 inches annually; 4190 mm annually

Annual Rainfall: ranges from 90 to 210 inches; 2280 to 5330 mm