The Vanderbilt campus is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of downtown Nashville; however, the university
maintains a park-like setting. The campus has an area of 330 acres (1.3 km²), though this figure includes large tracts of land to
the southwest of the main campus as well the medical center. The original academic quad is approximately 30 acres (120,000 m²) in
area.The campus is certified to have at least one specimen of every tree that is indigenous to the state of Tennessee. In fact, the
main (original) campus was designated as a national arboretum in 1988, a status which the University does not take lightly. Any
visitor to the campus will quickly notice that signs posted to the trees by various student groups are actually bound to the
trees with wire instead of being nailed to them, as it is illegal to cause damage to any tree on a national arboretum.