The Secret Garden at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Location: Directly across from the temporary visitor entrance to the garden (across from the gift shop). Turn right at the apple tree.

Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

As Hillwood renovates their terrace, its visitors must enter the garden through their gift shops door. Many visitors keen to start their tour of the formal gardens walk right past the entrance to Hillwood’s own secret garden. This is not on the map, so look for its entrance just to the right of an apple tree, behind a row of hedges. Inside you will find benches, grass, tall trees and a space that amounts to just about the most perfect secluded garden room you can imagine. Bring a book, blanket or a best friend—and plan to spend some time relaxing in your own secret garden.

Don’t Miss: The three Dawn Redwood trees planted in the 1950’s for Hillwood’s owner, Marjorie Merriweather Post,. Thought to be extinct, this deciduous conifer was rediscovered 1944 in what is now Moudao (谋道), China. After World War II, scientists from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University traveled to study the trees, collect seeds and subsequently begin a seedling-distribution program to repopulate this beautiful species. Dawn Redwoods, also known as Metasequoia trees, are popular in gardens, parks and streets because of their fast-growing nature.