The Explore! North Shore hiking series will get you outside and moving at some lesser explored Trustees properties across the Northeast Region, at the right time of year to see these special places shine. These beginner hikes will not be too strenuous, and will offer frequent stops for learning and taking in the beauty of our special places.
The Trustees of Reservations invite you to join our expert guides for a tour around Long Hill’s stunning Sedgwick Gardens and learn more about the special plants. Visit Long Hill’s breathtaking gardens and stately historic house for a guided tour. Enjoy the rich history of this grand country estate, home of the Sedgwick family, as you learn about the elegant lifestyle of wealthy Bostonians on the North Shore, and the artisans who created it. The tour takes you through the Federal-style house and the spectacular gardens, with terraces, statues, fountains, and pagodas, each section filled with unique perennial flowers from around the world. Highlights of the tour include a room filled with stunning 19th century Chinese wallpaper, the evolution of the stunning Sedgwick gardens, and the hidden connection between the house and an old Southern antebellum mansion.
There is almost nothing more peaceful than a evening walk at the Crane Estate, and we would like to invite your family to join us for a unique hiking experience. With the full moon rising over the Atlantic, we’ll start with a sunset stroll along Crane Beach admiring this spectacle before heading into the dunes to explore it’s trails under the light of the full moon. This is a great opportunity to get the kids outside, share the joys of nature at twillight, and bond with your family.
The sand dunes at Crane Beach are like a desert. Water is hard to come by; the sand is hot and the dunes are always moving & shifting with the strong ocean winds. Despite these stressors, a variety of life thrives here. Come explore the dunes of Crane Beach, and learn how animals and plants survive in this unforgiving habitat. Learn the basics of animal tracking, see sand up-close, and learn how it’s formed, and discover different adaptations that allow plants, animals, and even fungi to survive the stress of the dunes.
Barnyard stories really come alive when you get to see the main characters in real life! Bring the kids down to Appleton Farms for our farm-fresh version of story time. Explore the farmstead, visit our learning garden, see our cows and rabbits, and find a spot to play under a shady tree in our stone paddock. Gather around for a farm story with one of our farmers!
Discover our special barnyard animals! Our Angora rabbits Violet, Mabel, Oiver and Charles; Nubian goats Maeve, Morgana, and Mordred; dairy cows Gray, Jasmine, their calves Gigi and Joanie and our friendly flock of heritage chickens will take center stage as we learn about what makes them so unique.
Come explore the lesser-visited corners of Castle Hill and its surroundings with us this season. This hike is a CraneOutdoors guide favorite because it’s got a little bit of all the things that make the Crane Estate such a special place…
Engage your curious budding gardener or adventurer in our new Little Sprouts in the Garden series, a monthly themed program to connect your child with the natural world around us. As the snow begins to melt with spring around the corner, it may be too cold for fresh flowers or green grass in the gardens! In the meantime, bring some green life inside your house with a terrarium workshop to create a miniature natural world! Participants will learn about plant care and life cycle basics and leave with a mini terrarium of their own. Recommended for ages 6-10 but all are welcome. An adult must attend but there is no additional charge.
A CraneOutdoors Family Winter Wildlife Walk will take you on a stroll through the Crane Beach dunes while learning about the plants and animals that call this special place home. You may be familiar with Crane Beach, but have you ever visited the dune trails? The dunes of Castle Neck are a much less explored world unto themselves. They offer one of the most accessible dune landscapes in New England and trails that provide a firsthand look into the delicate and ever-changing dune habitat. This includes numerous lookouts offering stunning views of Choate Island and the varied ecosystems of Castle Neck, including Pitch Pine forests and naturally occurring cranberry bogs.
Is there anything better than a chicken pot pie for dinner on a chilly night? Learn how to make this classic pie from complete scratch with our baker Kami. From all butter pie dough, to utilizing chicken bones to make stock for the gravy base, you will leave this class with the knowledge of how to get the best out of your chicken. Class participants will leave class with a fully formed pie, extra pie dough, and a shared slice at the end.
