Morris Arboretum Holiday Garden Railway Opening Weekend

About this adventure

Opening on Black Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, the Holiday Garden Railway at the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill is a quintessential Philadelphia family tradition. A quarter-mile of miniature G-scale track meanders through a magical hillside forest, featuring running locomotives, steam whistles, and miniature bridges crossing babbling streams. Toddlers and kids love discovering miniature replicas of historic Philadelphia landmarks—including Independence Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and historic Wissahickon mills—painstakingly constructed entirely from all-natural materials like cedar bark, moss, acorns, pinecones, and willow branches. Thousands of sparkling holiday lights decorate the miniature landscapes. The arboretum's wide, paved trails are fully stroller accessible, and the Tree Adventure exhibit lets kids bounce in a giant canopy net over the woods.