Spring Has Sprung at the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum with Camps, Programs and the new Stone House Nature Center!

Spring into a new season with the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary! First up, be sure to stop by the Arboretum to celebrate the Grand Opening of our brand new STONE HOUSE NATURE CENTER exhibit and Earth Day on Saturday, April 22, 2017, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. This special event will include an outdoor art project, a station about bees and bee conservation, live animals, guided hikes every hour on the half hour, and a scout station featuring Outdoor Survival skills. In addition to live animals, the brand new STONE HOUSE NATURE CENTER, a museum-quality exhibit, features sculptural trees and canopies, interactive learning and discovery stations, and, under the historic arched windows of the arboretum’s Stone House, a viewing platform that allows visitors to look out onto the arboretum’s majestic forest. Arboretum naturalists will be in the Stone House to talk about the new exhibit and to answer questions. Visit our wonderful honey bees, Eastern Kingsnake, Eastern Painted Turtles, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Corn Snake, Eastern Rat Snake, Eastern Box Tortoise, and Domestic Rabbit, in addition to special animal guests from the Turtle Back Zoo! Light refreshments will be available.

On Saturday, April 29th - Sunday, April 30th, join us for the Spring Family Camp Out! Pitch a tent in the woods, roast s'mores, and more! This is a great opportunity for a first time camping experience for the whole family. Repeat campers are welcome too! Dinner and breakfast will be provided, as well as some great activities such as a night hike, campfire stories, and more. Please remember to BYOG: Bring your own gear.

On Saturday, May 13th, hike under the flower moon on the Flower Moon Hike! Take a walk with a Cora Hartshorn Arboretum naturalist and learn a little about the spring night sky, and how both humans and animals use the stars to navigate and discover new worlds.

On Saturday, May 20th, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm, join our teen Cora's Conservation Corp volunteers for the inaugural Citizen Science Symposium, generously funded by the Investor's Foundation. Learn about Citizen Science in our own community and how you can personally become involved in Citizen Science.

Spring offers wonderful opportunities for our Monthly Guided Hikes. This season is a colorful time that makes us, the plants, and the animals that call the Arboretum home, feel energized and warm. Join Cora's Conservation Corps teen volunteers as they guide you through our woodlands and lead you through the discoveries you can make as a Citizen Scientist. Please dress for the weather and be prepared for the outdoors. On the April 9th hike, learn all about Project BudBurst. On May 14th, our Mother’s Day hike will celebrate nature and mothers while learning about Wildflowers. On our special Father's Day Hike on June 18th, hikers will learn all about, what else but, Fathers in Nature? Hikes will last about 45 minutes and depart at 11 am, 1 pm and 3pm.

This spring, the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum offers three different mini-camps for young naturalists to enjoy and explore! From April 10 - 14th, is the Spring Break Mini Camp. Turtle Tot (pre-K) and Explorers (Grades K - 3) campers will explore the Arboretum and discover plants and animals that are emerging and returning from their winter homes. From June 12th - June 16th, the Arboretum will hold the June Mini Camp. Get ready for summer, explore the woodlands, play games and more! This camp is exclusively for Turtle Tots. From June 20th - June 22nd is the 3-Day June Camp. This Turtle-Tot-exclusive camp allows exploration and discovery for our youngest day campers. All campers can attend for just one day or for the whole session.

Our usual array of excellent, ongoing, environmental education classes are in full swing for spring. The Arboretum Sprouts is a weekly class where children (who will be 1 year old by April 1, 2017) and a care-giver explore the natural world through songs, games, crafts and a hike. This class takes place on Thursdays, 10:00 am - 11:00 am from April 20th - June 8th. Turtle Tots classes for preschoolers provide opportunities for nature discovery through age-appropriate guided discussions, nature walks and hands-on learning. Participants will enjoy learning about Super Seeds, Amazing Amphibians, Incredible Insects, and more! This class is also weekly, and tots can choose either Tuesdays (3:00 - 4:00 pm, April 18 - June 6th) or Fridays (12:00 - 2:30 pm, April 21st - June 9th). The Eco-Explorers class, for Kindergarten - 3rd graders, meets after school for an hour of hands-on nature discovery through guided walks, scientific investigation and woodland exploration. Most of the class will take place outside so be sure to dress your child for the weather. Eco-Explorers takes place on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month from 3:30 - 4:30 pm, from April 26th - June 21st.

The Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary is a very special 16-acre nature conservancy located in Millburn/Short Hills with a remarkable historical significance dating back to the very early roots of our community. It’s a beautiful place to walk, run, hike, explore, camp and spend family time together in a delightfully unique natural environment. Even more important, it’s been an invaluable center of learning for our children for many decades; a place where nearly every local student visits to learn about nature from the Arboretum’s incredible staff of Environmental Educators. The Arboretum continues to play a vital role in developing our children, and also our adults, into environmentally aware, responsible stewards of our natural resources. The Arboretum’s activities focus on four components: Education, Forest Conservation, Citizen Science and Volunteerism. For more information about the new Stone House Nature Center exhibit, nature programs, camps and more, please visit www.HartshornArboretum.org.