Boone County Arboretum in Union, Kentucky, is a 121-acre public arboretum established from an idea in 1996 and dedicated in 1999 within an active recreation park, a combination described as the first of its kind in the United States. Northern Kentucky’s only arboretum, it includes more than 3,300 labeled and GPS-recorded plants, including over 1,400 trees and 1,900 shrubs representing more than 873 taxa. About 2.5 miles of paved trails connect its collections, woodland areas, prairie wildlife viewing area, Children’s Garden, and athletic fields. It also serves as a year-round teaching site and in 2012 became the first arboretum in Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area to receive Level IV Accreditation from the Morton Register.