Even in snow, you can enjoy a wintery stroll on a nearly mile-long paved trail. Meadow Lake Trail, a year-round favorite, is cleared of snow regularly, can be accessed from  the Visitor Center Parking Lot or the Visitor Center. Striking lakeside views and labeled trees and shrubs along the trail provide plenty of interest.

From the lake's south side, enjoy a panoramic scene of sycamore trees' wintery white architecture. On the north side of the lake, follow the trail through shrubbery and a grove of red and ponderosa pines. Look for winter birds perching in the shrubs or among the protective conifers, perhaps snacking on seeds from the cones.

Bark patterns, colors, and textures are more evident now than at othertimes of the year. Pause to see and feel the peeling cinnamon bark of the paper-bark maple, the tight, smooth texture of beech bark, and the peeling bark of river birch.The meadow Lake Trail invites you to experience winter's solitude, friends, and the promise of seasons yet to come.

The Meadow Lake restoration project and the Main Parking Lot project at The Morton Arboretum has become one of eight pilot projects newly certified by the Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) for its sustainable site design, construction, and maintenance. They join three other projects that received certification in January 2012.

Walking the 22 acres of the Conifer Collection is a special treat in the wintertime, when snow drapes the limbs and trunks of these trees that stay "on" for 365 days of the year. There's amazing diversity in this collection. Plants here can be trees or shrubs, large or small, have dark green to blue to lime green foliage. Needles can be long and pointed, or short and scale-like. Conifers can be low-growing shrubs, or giants piercing the sky.

Find the Conifer Collection on the East Side, south of the columns near Parking Lot 3.

It's a haven, really, The Sterling Morton Library. Enter the library's welcome warmth on a cold winter day and pause to explore its latest exhibit.

Settle in the library proper, an exquisite reading room with curved, wooden bookshelves embracing comfortable chairs. The warm light streams in from the east bank of windows. Browse through the display of recent periodicals—from American Gardener to Wildflower. Ask about the magnificent collection of rare books, nursery catalogs, classical works, and archives. There are children's books, if you have a toddler in tow, and thousands of books for you. Don't miss the serenity, the discovery, and the joy of learning anytime of year!

The Spruce Plot was planted in 1923 and consists mainly of Norway spruce. The combination of evergreen essence, neat bark scalloped gray, green, and brown, and long, narrow cones on the forest floor make it a favorite place for contemplation, rest, and meditation. While faint beams of filtered sunlight shine through, gaze up at these 50-foot tall trees. Watch the needled tops wave. Feel the breeze. Smell the spruce essence and look at the patterned bark. Soak in the moment of this peaceful winter scene.

Find the Spruce Plot on the East Side, near Parking Lot 12.

The area around Pine Hill contains some of the oldest existing plantings of the Arboretum, dating from 1922 when it first opened. Here you'll find stately pines with snow covered boughs that can be enjoyed for their natural beauty In late winter, early spring, look for great horned owls who have commandeered other birds' nests in which to raise their fluff-headed young.

Find Pine Hill along the West Side Main Loop 3, near Parking Lot 28.

Hemlock Hill, where densely growing trees hide the sun and dampen sound and wind, can feel like a magical place. Hemlocks feature short needles and abundant small cones that dangle from branches like small ornaments. Their horizontal branches that become pendulous with age are gorgeous after a fresh snow fall. Some winters, saw whet owls come down from Canada to escape harsh weather. They often choose hemlocks for perching.

Walk along the West Side Main Loop 2 to find Hemlock Hill just south of Lake Marmo.