Dream Drives: The Treetops of Tyler Arboretum
MEDIA, Pa. (CBS) -- In Media, you'll find a getaway that will take you up the treetops: Tyler Arboretum.
This Delaware County arboretum is one of the oldest arboreta in the Northeast and started as a side project back in the 1820s. A farming family set aside some land and planted tree after tree. Now the land draws thousands of visitors every year.
Amy Mawby, director of public programs, showed CBS3's Meisha Johnson the giant sequoia. "This tree is, if I'm doing math correctly, 161 years old," Amy said. "It was actually topped at one point and stolen to try to be a Christmas tree for someone! So they cut half the tree, and it's grown now and has two leaders. It's a unique shape, and it's also a unique tree for this area because giant sequoias really don't grow on the East Coast."
Visitors to Tyler Arboretum can stroll 550 acres of natural areas and almost 20 miles of hiking trails, an especially beautiful sight as the leaves change.
Visitor Kathy Burns said, "Life's getting more hectic, and I think we need to be able to get away and just appreciate nature."
Some of the most popular spots are the treehouses. "This is where imagination grows," Meisha said.
The Tulip Treehouse is "actually built amongst tulip trees," Amy said.
"What's really cool is, the trunk of the tree is coming through the roof of the treehouse, which I think is so cool when you're standing there," Meisha said.
"We have treehouses throughout the arboretum in exactly what you're saying, to try to get people of all generations out in nature, discovering, exploring, playing, putting down those electronic devices and really connecting," Amy said.
Meisha found "a little slice of heaven" when she bumped into the goats.
"Look at them! So cute! So where are we standing right now?" Meisha said.
"We're standing out in one of our meadow areas," Amy said. "This is the middle of our pinetum: evergreens and big trees. So we have a big landscape and a lot of hungry goats. We need help munching our big meadows out here. So we have twelve goats at the moment. They are our hired meadow managers for the summer."
"There's so many reasons to come here, but this is like they are the stars of the show," Meisha said.
"Definitely!" Amy said.
Tyler Arboretum is located at 515 Painter Road, Media, PA 19063. You can find out more at their website.
Through October, Tyler Arboretum is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM. Starting in November, it closes at 4:00 PM on weekdays, 5:00 PM on weekends. It is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
