From the Director’s Desk: Landis Trails, New Map and Guide

Over the years, both hik­ers and ram­blers have dis­cov­ered that Lan­dis has some­thing for every­one. Whether they enjoy strolling through our gar­dens and col­lec­tions or explor­ing the more chal­leng­ing ter­rain, vis­i­tors have found count­less ways to expe­ri­ence the rough­ly 14 miles of trails at the Arboretum.

An easy beginner’s trail mean­ders through the Labyrinth, Shan­ti Vun Med­i­ta­tion and Stone­henge Gar­dens, and con­tin­ues around the Queen V. Trail. Stop and sit in the Med­i­ta­tion Gar­den or beside the Bog Gar­den for a mem­o­rable photo. 

More mod­er­ate hik­ing can be found near­by along the Wil­low Pond Trail (which encom­pass­es The Miller Native Plant Trail) and into the Old Growth For­est along the Wood­land Trail. Both of these trails offer inter­pre­tive sig­nage, many with QR codes. 

Oth­er mod­er­ate trails include the his­toric Fred Lape Trail, which takes one through many of the orig­i­nal col­lec­tions plant­ed by Lan­dis founder Fred Lape. Along this trail one can see and learn about oaks, beech, rhodo­den­dron, wil­lows, larch, pine, and a group­ing of ​“Choice Conifers.” 

Expe­ri­enced hik­ers will enjoy our more chal­leng­ing trail deep into the Old Growth sec­tion of the Arbore­tum. This area has not been logged or oth­er­wise man­aged, so it’s a glimpse into pre-colo­nial America.

After sus­tain­ing some sig­nif­i­cant flood dam­age, the Water­fall Trail has been closed to the pub­lic for sev­er­al years. How­ev­er, plans are to reopen it in the spring of 2023. Vis­i­tors will again be able to view the largest water­fall on the Lan­dis hold­ings. In addi­tion, a 2022 NEEF Grant award will allow Lan­dis to cre­ate a park­ing area at the trail­head and to pur­chase tools for required trail work. This easy trail is a wildlife hotspot and home to many native plants and ferns.

Over the past decade, the Arbore­tum has devel­oped new gar­dens, trails, pic­nic areas, park­ing lots, and points of inter­est not shown on our cur­rent map. Lan­dis is a recent recip­i­ent of an Iro­quois Com­mu­ni­ty Grant award, which will be used to update our trail maps and guides. Lan­dis’ new Trail Map and Guide, avail­able in 2023, will note all of these improve­ments. The guide will also include trail descrip­tors such as dis­tance and dif­fi­cul­ty. Points of inter­est and pic­nic areas along the trails will be high­light­ed. The new guide will indi­cate park­ing areas, pet waste sta­tions, sculp­tures, points of inter­est for view­ing and pho­tog­ra­phy, blue­bird nest box­es, and wildlife obser­va­tion areas. 

Since its incep­tion in 1951, Lan­dis, like its green­ery, has been grow­ing. Our new guide is just anoth­er mea­sure of that growth!