Three MSU Campus Stops Worth Knowing

You do not need a game ticket to get something out of Michigan State’s campus. Three stops tell very different parts of its story, and two do not charge admission.

Start with W.J. Beal Botanical Garden, founded in 1873 beside the Red Cedar River. MSU describes it as the country’s oldest continuously operated university botanical garden. Its living collection holds more than 2,000 plants, and the outdoor garden is free to walk through.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum is almost the opposite experience: sharp folds of glass and stainless steel designed by Zaha Hadid. The museum says that when the building opened in 2012, it was Hadid’s first building on a university campus and only her second completed project in the United States. Admission remains free, but exhibitions and hours change.

Then there is the Dairy Store inside Anthony Hall. Most of its ice cream is made in the MSU Dairy Plant next door, and a second-floor observation deck looks into the production area. The store warns that production does not follow a public schedule, so the view may be quiet when you visit. Its current site also says the Union location closed in 2020 and Anthony Hall is the only store in operation.

For East Lansing residents, these places are part of the neighborhood. For families in Okemos and Haslett, campus sits just across Meridian Township’s western edge. The useful trick is to treat it like a small outing: pick one or two stops, check the day’s hours, and look up current campus parking before leaving home.