When we visited the Mountain Top Arboretum on a beautiful autumn afternoon, it was lovely and peaceful. Hardly anybody was at this public garden near Tannersville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. The arboretum’s boardwalks and trails boast 178 acres of wetlands, meadows, forest, and plants, plants, plants.
If you like to combine your hikes with some nature education, you’ll probably like the arboretum. Visitors can walk a few miles of trails while stopping to read interpretive signage. People like me who always need a refresher course on tree ID will appreciate the round blue name tags tacked to trunks here and there.
During my visit, the fall leaves were very beautiful. But photos showing the arboretum meadows blossoming in spring, or snow blanketing the leafless trees in winter, suggest that it’s worth the trip year-round.
West Meadow
The arboretum is divided into East and West Meadows. The West Meadow features the Rain Garden, which slows spring and summer runoff. Plantings in Bird Cove offer shelter, food, and a place to nest for some of the 60 species of birds who frequent the arboretum.
You can also stroll a spiral labyrinth or check out the stacked rock sculptures. I especially liked the collections of dwarf conifers.
East Meadow
The East Meadow has the Pine Allée, where you can walk between grand rows of eastern white pine. I was excited to wander the Fern Trail — until I realized the obvious, which is that ferns die back into a crunchy dry mass of brown in autumn. I imagine it’s glorious in spring. My favorite part of the East Meadow was the Wetland Boardwalk, which was very colorful in the fall.
Wildlife at the arboretum
Depending on the time of year and your own good fortune, you might encounter some small but interesting critters inside the arboretum. The West Meadow Rain Garden provides a rich habitat for many species, offering them a place to lay eggs under leaves, drink flower nectar, or eat some berries and seeds. Monarch butterflies appreciate the meadow’s milkweed, while the nocturnal spotted salamander uses soft rush as a protective covering to hide from predators.
Arboretum events
The arboretum hosts nature-related walks and workshops. Upcoming events include a class on making holiday centerpieces with natural materials, guided walks, and a tree ID class. Next March, artist Laura Leigh Lanchantin will teach the traditional method of making watercolor paint from the sedimentary rock and clay of the Catskill and Appalachian Mountains. Then, she’ll guide you through an open-air painting session with your new paint. All for 10 bucks!
If you go
This isn’t the place for your cutest shoes — unless your cutest shoes are rain boots. Be prepared for some mud and muck. A rain jacket also came in handy during our visit. You can wander the arboretum for free, but they appreciate a donation of at least five dollars. The nearby All Souls Church is also worth a look. We walked over from the West Meadow to check out this Episcopal stone church built in 1894.
If you visit in winter, this is a good place to snowshoe. And sorry, Fido, no dogs allowed.