During our stay near Indiana Dunes National Park, we decided to check out Gabis Arboretum in nearby Valporaiso, and I’m so glad we did. Tucked away on 300 acres of natural beauty, it felt like the perfect spot to slow down and really connect with nature. From the restored prairie to the peaceful woodlands and colorful display gardens, there was so much to explore. In this post, I’ll share what made our visit to Gabis Arboretum special and why it’s worth adding to your list if you’re ever in the area!
About the Gabis Arboretum
Gabis Arboretum at Purdue University Northwest is a beautiful 300-acre space that’s perfect for exploring nature. With restored prairies, display gardens, wetlands, and miles of hiking trails winding through peaceful woodlands, there’s plenty to enjoy. The arboretum also hosts concerts and offers all kinds of programs—from fun activities for kids to adult classes. You can join guided hikes, take a relaxing golf cart tour, or even get involved through volunteer opportunities. It’s a great place to learn, explore, and connect with the environment!
Top Things to Do at Gabis Arboretum
Railway Garden
An absolute highlight of the Gabis Arboretum is the Railway Garden. This 2-acre garden tells the story of the American railroad with G-gauge model trains. The trains travel through different scenes depicting various landscapes and parts of history, like Old West towns, farms, limestone quarries, industry, and so much more. Besides the models, there is an abundance of plants- including lots of miniature trees that really create a miniature world.
Gabis Rose Gardens
Another highlight of the Gabis are the two rose gardens. The Hitz Family Rose Garden is especially interesting. The garden is designed and landscaped to look like a Scrabble board in honor of Audrey Hitz, whom the garden is named after. The other rose garden, the Bapst Rose Garden, is also impressive with its 70+ roses.
Adventure Garden
If you’re visiting the Gabis Arboretum with kids, you’ll want to check out the Adventure Garden. Designed in a fun kid-friendly way, this space is used to teach about vegetable gardening, green roofs, composting, and more.
Trails
Finally, another highlight of the Gabis the nearly 6 miles of trails. The trails are dog friendly and take you through a variety of natural landscapes. Trail maps can be found on the Gabis website here.
How to Visit the Gabis Arboretum
450 W 100 N, Valparaiso, IN 46385
The Gabis Arboretum is open daily from 8am to sunset. For non-members, it cost $10 per car and you’ll pay at a kiosk at the automated gate. The kiosk is credit only- no cash.
The Railway Garden is open Friday-Sunday 10am-3pm from May- October. It costs an additional $3/person, but kids 5 and under are free.
Our Visit to the Gabis Arboretum
Our main reason for visiting the Gabis was for the Railway Garden. This is such a unique garden and is so well done. I was absolutely enthralled and delighted exploring every scene. We got there just after rain had let up, and they don’t run the trains during the rain, so we had a little bit of a wait for them to get going.
There were two trains running at once when we visited
The other nice thing about the garden itself in the Railway Garden is that it’s mostly evergreen plants, so it still looked amazing even though it was nearing the end of September. The rest of the gardens weren’t looking so great when we visited, but we know we were at an off-season.
Josh was interested to see the native plant garden, since his work is about promoting native gardening- but it was especially looking rough this time of year and was pretty small.
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