Westchester's Lasdon Park Home To Dinosaur Garden

KATONAH, NY — It is often said that some 280 million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the earth. Movies like "Jurassic Park," documentaries and educational books promote the evolutionary claim that dinosaurs dominated our planet for more than 100 million years. But, at Westchester County’s Lasdon Park in Katonah, dinosaurs are alive and well.

Footprints, plant specimens and life-sized replicas of a Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor and Brachiosaurus are just some of the features boasted by the Dinosaur Garden at Lasdon Park, dating back hundreds of millions of years. The Westchester County Parks Department has even taken the Dinosaur Garden one step further, by teaming up with the creators of smartphone app “Zappar,” which allows for an animated, interactive experience as you roam through the dinosaur forest.

When visitors scan the “Zap Codes” placed throughout the stages of the garden, they are instantly transported back in time. Participants can watch and learn about how the dinosaurs evolved through a time lapse, that provides information about the species, how they lived, what they ate and what the earth looked like during that time.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer said he loves that there are dinosaurs in Westchester County, and that our visitors can be exposed to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

"The interactive app adds an entirely new layer to Lasdon Park, and offers fresh insight into the amazing anatomy of dinosaurs from millions of years ago,” he said.

Caroline Genovese, senior graphic illustrator who helped develop the concept of the Dinosaur Garden said that the concept of creating a Dinosaur Garden at Lasdon Park came after the Train Show where the theme was all about dinosaurs.

"It was a big success, and what child doesn’t like dinosaurs?" she said. "Our mission and message is about conservation and the botanical world. Knowing that more than 41 percent of our visitors are between the ages of 35 and 44, young families with children, I wanted to appeal to that audience and dinosaurs was a way to do this. With that in mind, I created the virtual reality signage to both educate and entertain all within a botanical setting.”

The Dinosaur Garden is one of the permanent exhibits at Lasdon Park, along with an arboretum, a Chinese peace garden, a Veterans museum and outdoor concerts during the summer months. The park is located at 2610 Amawalk Rd. in Katonah.

Photos courtesy Westchester County.