With beautiful summer weather here, we try to get outside as much as possible to enjoy the fresh air.  I find arboretums very interesting and love learning about new plants, so we decided to check out the Pine Hollow Arboretum, which is not far from Albany, NY.

The Arboretum’s horticultural collection highlights the diversity of the world’s forests over 22 acres of land featuring 11 ponds and a network of trails. (https://www.pinehollowarboretum.org/)

It is very easy to find the arboretum, which is on its own road.

We used Google Maps to guide us:

Parking is available at the end of the driveway on a loop, and I think there were about 5 clearly marked spots there.

There are a variety of trails to explore, including a self guided tour, and two CDPHP trails.  There are a lot of different paths to take, so I recommend picking up a map at the main building.

(You can view/download a better map on the Pine Hollow website).

The CDPHP trails are fairly well marked, but we did find ourselves meandering a bit.  I do wish the trail lengths were marked on the map so that we could have a better plan, especially “hiking” the arboretum with kids.

The trails around the arboretum are very nice and relaxing.

I believe there are 11 ponds at Pine Hollow!

It was impressive to explore so many different ponds on one property.  We saw so many frogs as well as other aquatic critters like crayfish and fish.

It was nice to explore and see so many different plants and trees, like this Bald Cypress.  There were some I knew, others were a “refresher” course for me, and plenty of new species.

Not only can you take a self guided tour around the arboretum using a map to identify different trees, there are lots of plants that are labeled.

I enjoyed all the different scenery within the arboretum.  There are so many ponds, different kinds of forests, open meadows, and more.

Walking through the woods with ferns everywhere was so relaxing.  There are some chairs and benches around the arboretum where you can sit and enjoy your surroundings.

The kids enjoyed this musical bridge.

Pine Hollow Arboretum is a nice place to visit, explore nature, and learn about trees and other plants.

Check out the Pine Hollow Arboretum website at

https://www.pinehollowarboretum.org/