Montgomery County 19
19 places to explore in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania — part of the Philadelphia & The Countryside region.
Public Gardens 6
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Ambler Arboretum of Temple University
Temple University's campus arboretum, rooted in the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women founded in 1910, with a formal perennial garden, woodland paths and native plantings.
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Arboretum at Laurel Hill
Rolling hills, mature trees and sculpted monuments fill this Victorian garden cemetery, West Laurel Hill, now an accredited arboretum and a quiet place for contemplative walks.
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Barnes Arboretum at Saint Joseph's University
The estate arboretum planted by Laura Barnes, wife of collector Albert Barnes, now cared for by Saint Joseph's University, with rare trees, flowering shrubs and perennial borders.
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Haverford College Arboretum
The whole college campus is an arboretum, with a duck pond, a pinetum and a nature trail that loops past grand old trees and open fields.
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Henry Foundation for Botanical Research
A rocky hillside garden of native plants gathered by botanist Mary Gibson Henry on her collecting expeditions, many of them through the Southeast, and kept as a living research collection.
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Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden
Replanted with native species, the gardens of this former Main Line estate, now run by the conservation group Natural Lands, spread among old trees, lawns, meadows and woodland.
Museums 3
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Glencairn Museum
Built for the Pitcairn family as a castle-like Romanesque-style home, now a museum of religious art and artifacts from ancient Egypt to medieval Europe, next to the cathedral the family also built.
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Frances M. Maguire Art Museum
Saint Joseph's University's art museum, opened in 2023 in the classical gallery building that once held the Barnes Foundation's collection, with works spanning some 3,000 years.
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Harriton House
The 1704 stone house where Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, spent his later years, now a house museum set among fields and woods.
Historic Sites 6
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John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove
The first American home of John James Audubon, now a museum of his bird art set amid woods, meadows and trails along Perkiomen Creek that are rich in birdlife.
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Beth Sholom Synagogue
Frank Lloyd Wright's only synagogue, a soaring translucent pyramid meant to evoke Mount Sinai, completed in 1959 and still home to an active congregation that offers tours.
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Graeme Park
The 1720s stone mansion of colonial governor Sir William Keith, later home of the poet Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, with remarkably original interiors set among open fields.
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Hope Lodge
A Georgian mansion of the 1740s, used as the army's medical headquarters during Washington's Whitemarsh encampment, and later filled by collectors with colonial and Federal furnishings.
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Harriton House
The 1704 stone house where Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, spent his later years, now a house museum set among fields and woods.
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Valley Forge National Historical Park
Where Washington's Continental Army camped through the winter of 1777-78: rolling fields, rebuilt huts, his headquarters and miles of trails.
Public Parks 5
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Norristown Farm Park
Crops still grow on land farmed since the 1700s, and paved paths loop past fields, old stone farmhouses and barns, woodlots and a trout nursery along Stony Creek.
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Fort Washington State Park
Hawk watchers crowd the observation deck each fall as raptors stream south over hills where Washington's army dug in during the autumn of 1777, weeks before Valley Forge.
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Evansburg State Park
A meandering creek has carved wooded ridges and ravines into this green island in the suburbs, with a 1792 stone-arch bridge at its edge and trails for hikers, riders and mountain bikers.
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John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove
The first American home of John James Audubon, now a museum of his bird art set amid woods, meadows and trails along Perkiomen Creek that are rich in birdlife.
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Valley Forge National Historical Park
Where Washington's Continental Army camped through the winter of 1777-78: rolling fields, rebuilt huts, his headquarters and miles of trails.
Biking Trails 1
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Perkiomen Trail
From the Schuylkill River Trail at Oaks, this rail trail follows Perkiomen Creek up to Green Lane Park, through creekside parks, woods and small villages.
Zoos & Aquariums 1
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Elmwood Park Zoo
Hand-feed giraffes, come face to face with jaguars and zip-line through the treetops above bison and elk at this friendly mid-sized zoo.