Our trails and boardwalks connect 178 acres of plant collections, meadows, wetlands, forest and Devonian bedrock—a natural sanctuary for visitors interested in horticulture, birding, geology, local craftsmanship, and hiking. Come visit the Arboretum in all its summertime glory.
 
VISIT

EVENTS & MORE

Fairy Garden Day - Fairy House Construction Made Simple with Maureen Garcia
Saturday, August 5, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Cost of Admission: Members Free, suggested $10 donation for non-members.

Children must be accompanied by an adult. This is an in-person, outdoor program.

THIS PROGRAM IS LIMITED TO 20 PARTICIPANTS (not including adult accompanying child.)

PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

In this outdoor workshop, we will forage and gather nature supplies throughout the Arboretum. Utilizing our finds of sticks, bark, and rocks as well as some choice crystals, and shells provided by the instructor; we will construct one-of-a-kind fairy house structures throughout the Arboretum's magical fairy garden! Techniques and tricks of the tiny trade will be shared and demonstrated. Students will take away the knowledge to build more fairy houses in their own backyards and beyond! Fairy friends of all ages are invited, just bring your imagination and a smile!

Maureen Garcia is a local artist, Library Director, and Fairy Enthusiast.

REGISTER

Story Walk in the Woodland

Saturday, August 5 @10:00 am through Sunday August 13 @ 10:00 AM

Cost of Admission: Free.

Visit Mountain Top Arboretum for a Story Walk. Journey through the Woodland Walk and read the pages of Carole Lindstrom's We Are Water Protectors, illustrated by Michaela Goade posted along the paths. Supplies for a related craft will be available.

This program is part of the Story Time in the Shade series, a collaboration between Mountain Top Arboretum and Mountain Top Library.

No advance registration is required for this event.

DETAILS

Digging Deeper: Habitat Gardens in the Catskills with Marc Wolf

Saturday August 12 4:00-6:00 PM

Cost of Admission: Non-members $40, $30 for members

This is an in-person event.

Marc Wolf, Director of Horticulture & Environmental Stewardship, will lead a tour of the Arboretum’s timber frame Education Center, built from twenty-one different species of native trees from the Arboretum’s forest. We will then step outside to explore the Center’s landscape design by Jamie Purinton, which uses plants native to the Catskills to create wetland, woodland edge, and high-elevation bedrock outcrop habitats. Of special note will be the series of six interconnected rain gardens, an especially important element for the Arboretum’s site at the top of the Catskill Watershed. (The Catskill Watershed, combined with the Delaware Watershed, provides drinking water to 9,000,000 New Yorkers daily.) Among other features, easily accessible to tour are the Bird Cove, planted with shrubs and perennials native to the northeast US, and the Spiral Labyrinth, a spiral garden designed by Bob Hyland and Dean Riddle.  

Digging Deeper is presented in partnership with The Garden Conservancy.

DETAILS

Two of Earth's Earliest Fossil Forests: Gilboa and Cairo with Dr. Chuck ver Straeten

Saturday, August 26 10:00 AM-12:00 PM

Cost of Admission: Members free, suggested donation of $10 for non-members

This is an in-person event.

Rocks and fossils of the Catskills tell us about this place long before dinosaurs. Earth’s oldest forests were scattered across these lands then, with primitive plants and animals. For about 100 years, Earth’s oldest known fossil forest was at Gilboa. Discovered in 2009, the older Cairo Fossil Forest stole Gilboa’s claim to fame. The Cairo Forest provides new views of these forests – root impressions of large trees – showing where each tree stood 385,000,000 years ago. Join us for a walk and talk.

Dr. Chuck Ver Straeten is curator of Sedimentary Rocks and a geologist at the New York State Museum in Albany. His research focuses on the geology and history of the Devonian Period (~420 to 360 million years ago) in New York and beyond. You may find him along trails, cliffs and roadcuts in the Catskills region, scouring the rocks for clues to New York’s deep time history.

DETAILS

Yoga for Gardening with Pamela Martin

Every Wednesday, 3:15 pm - 4:15 pm

Cost of Admission: Suggested $10 donation.

Join us in the beautiful gardens of Mountain Top Arboretum for outdoor yoga classes led by Pamela Martin and other local yoga teachers. Learn tips and tricks to avoid injury, and to help support the body during gardening and yard work. A stretch and strength class appropriate for all levels. Please bring a mat, water, sunscreen, bug spray and anything else you need to be comfortable in.

No advance registration is required for this event.

DETAILS