Stepanavan Dendropark

Dendropark is located in 12 km from Stepanavan. It is one of the most remarkable natural zones in Armenia.

The area of botanic garden is about 35 hectares. It consists of natural forest (17,5 ha) and trees of different sorts (15 ha). Mostly the plants were brought from Yerevan botanic garden, but there are also species from different countries all over the world: Georgia, Ukraine Russia, Germany, France, Portugal, China, USA and so on. Now in dendropark there are about 500 species of plants.

Local climate is cool as the area is 1550m above the sea level. The annual precipitation is  1550 mm. From December till March the region is covered with snow. This collection of plants represents a great scientific value, as it gives an opportunity to explore the further development of species in uncommon climatic conditions.

Park was founded by Edmon Leonovich in 1931. He worked here as a manager since 1984, later he was replaced by his son. In 1998 area received a status of a national park.

During its existence more than 2500 plants were tested here, the aim was to find out species, which could get used to local conditions, but only 500 succeeded due to the cold climate.
A special meaning have Californian Sequoias. 5 giants planted together are very young and will keep growing  during next hundreds of years.

The park is a wonderful place which makes you feel like in a fairy tale with its fabulous nature, fresh air, and birds’ songs. One could walk there all the time and never get bored.