About Lime Hollow
Founded in 1993, the Lime Hollow is a member-supported not-for-profit organization whose mission is to "provide year-round environmental education and recreation opportunities through utilization and protection of the natural and cultural attributes of the Lime Hollow area."
We are located on the county border between Cortland and Tompkins Counties, in beautiful upstate New York. Among many physical and programmatic attributes – see trails, public programs, school programs, or adventure day camps – the Center boasts:
- An average of 20,000 visitors annually; school group and day-camp attendance of over 3,000; and a dedicated membership of approximately 400
- A $1 million Visitor Center facility located on McLean Road, opened in May 2007. This new Visitor Center offers a stunning central exhibit space, a bird education room, several new modular educational displays, gift-shop functionality, staff offices, and numerous “green building” features. Outside, the center features a creek-side bird sanctuary – and, a key new addition to the center – a “Trail for All” designed to give people with disabilities easy access to one of the center’s groomed trails.
- School programs attended by over 3000 school children each year, who come with their classes for educational field trips led by trained, paid and volunteer naturalists.
- Day camps (always at capacity) for children ages 3-14 for 10 weeks during each summer and during winter and spring school vacations. These camps provide recreational and educational activities in a fun and safe environment – and have consistently achieved children and parental reviews that rate our camps as exemplary.
- Opportunities for high school students and students from nearby colleges (SUNY Cortland, Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins-Cortland Community College) to learn career-related skills and do research.
- Nearly 10 miles of walking trails, several wildlife viewing stations, and over 400 acres of land. The Nature Conservancy deeded 15 acres of woodlands bordering a nearby peat bog (Chicago Bog) to Lime Hollow. The bog features prominently in Lime Hollow’s field trip curriculum for school children. Additionally, a growing art trail, located on the scenic Tamarack Trail has been set aside for nature inspired outdoor art exhibits created by young people and local artists.
- Numerous well-attended “public” programs, chief among them our Spring Fishing Festival offered in conjunction with the Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science. (In 2007, more than 400 persons attended, with hundreds of children (ten and under), learning about fishing.) Other LHCEC programs include: Snake Night (with live reptiles), and Creatures of the Night (after-dark walks and owl and bat demonstrations, campfire sing-a-long, star gazing, and children’s games and activities), ArtFest at the Hollow & Music in the Woods, and Maple Sugaring Day. Public programs schedules are published twice a year.
- LHCEC is listed in the “Viewing Wildlife in New York” guidebooks as one of 76 choice wildlife-viewing sites in New York State.
Lastly, but as important, LHCEC depends upon member support and program fees for most of its income; donations and grants from agencies, foundations, and individuals fund special projects and a variety of workshops. With a core full-time staff, and several part-time/seasonal staff members who join us during camp season, we also have dedicated corps of volunteers, Board of Directors, and committees to thank for our continued success and operation.
To learn more, view our LHCEC Brochure, watch our video, read our newsletters, review our Strategic Plan, or continue your "hike" through our site!