Landis Arboretum

The George Landis Arboretum is a 548-acre public garden and nature preserve spanning Schoharie and Montgomery counties in New York State. Founded in 1951 by Fred Lape on his family's nineteenth-century Oak Nose Farm, the sanctuary was established using a bequest from his colleague George Landis. Lape's foundational goal was to cultivate every species of woody plant from global temperate zones capable of enduring the local climate, which resulted in a meticulously cataloged living museum overlooking the Schoharie Valley.

Today, the property serves as a vital non-profit cultural, scientific, and educational resource open to the public from dawn until dusk throughout the entire year.The structural and environmental composition of the land consists of a small developed horticultural hub surrounded by vast, unmanaged ecosystems. Cultivated zones comprise roughly 40 acres of curated collections, including extensive groupings of conifers, oaks, flowering ornamental shrubs, and one of the most complete mature fir collections in the eastern United States.

This core section features the Van Loveland Perennial Garden alongside the Miller Native Plant Collection, which systematically displays over 200 species of trees, shrubs, and vines indigenous to New York State. Additionally, the grounds archive historical research assets like the Baim Herbarium, which preserves thousands of dried plant specimens collected from across the region and the South Pacific.

The remaining 500-plus acres of the property function as a protected wilderness laboratory dedicated to native northeastern ecosystems. This expanse contains open meadows, wetlands, and active old-growth forest successions anchored by the Ancient Forest Trail and Woodland Trail.

These designated older forests host centuries-old specimens of white oak, sugar maple, and eastern hemlock, making the sanctuary one of only three arboreta in eastern North America to harbor old-growth woodlands.

A network of roughly 8 to 10 miles of multi-use unpaved trails intersects these zones, allowing visitors to observe local wildlife, track forest evolution, and study the environmental impacts of invasive species.