Established as Imperial Forest Research Institute in 1906, the Forest Research Institute (FRI) Dehradun, was first situated at Chandhbagh (the present location of the Doon School) on the Mall Road. A much larger campus at the present location was acquired ca 1923. Construction of the new buildings commenced thereafter. Styled in Greco-Roman Architecture by C.G. Blomfield, the main building was inaugurated in 1929 by then Viceroy Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon. It is now a National Heritage site.

Forest Research Institute Dehradun is among the oldest institutions of its kind. The institute’s history is virtually synonymous with the evolution and development of scientific forestry, not only in India, but over the entire sub-continent. Built over 450 hectares, with the outer Himalaya forming its backdrop, the institute’s main building combines Greco-Roman and Colonial styles of architecture, with a plinth area of 2.5 hectares. The building was listed for a time, in the Guinness Book of Records, as the largest purely brick structure in the world. The institute has a developed infrastructure of all equipped laboratories, library, herbarium, arboreta, printing press and experimental field areas for conducting forestry research. It is 7 km from Clock Tower, on the Dehradun-Chakrata motorable road. It is the biggest forest-based training institute in India. Most of the forest officers are a part of this institute. The FRI’s building also houses a Botanical Museum and there are many different kinds of trees from around the world.

FRI and College Area campus is a census town, between Kaulagarh in the north and the Indian Military Academy to the south. The Tons River forms its Western Boundary.

The museum is open from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm daily. There is an entry fee of ₹15 per person and a 25 for scooty and bikes for cars vary nominal entry fee for vehicles. There are six sections in the museum:

1. Pathology Museum
2. Social Forestry Museum
3. Silviculture Museum
4. Timber Museum
5. Non-Wood Forest Products Museum
6. Entomology Museum