Overview

Since 2006, the Albany campus and the Nature Learning Center have served as the headquarters for Tin Mountain Conservation Center. Tin Mountain owns just over 300 acres in Albany, NH.  These 300 acres consist of the Rockwell Sanctuary, the Dr. Michael Cline Memorial Forest, The Margaret Marshall Mountain Laurel Warbler Garden and the Lori Jean Kinsey Arboretum & Sanctuary. About 10 miles of trails weave in, around and through the fields and forests of the whole property.  The observation platform, benches and boardwalks, as well as the trails around 6-acre Chase Pond, provide great spots for bird watching.  If you’re quiet and lucky, you may spot a beaver or otter.

Although all the sanctuaries, gardens and forests are connected, you can park in different areas to visit each one or park at the Nature Learning Center and visit all of them.  The Rockwell Sanctuary is named after Barbara Henry Rockwell, founder of Tin Mountain Conservation Center in 1980. She was a visionary who saw the need to teach children, experientially, about the natural world around them. 

The land for the Memorial Forest was named in memory of Dr. Michael Cline, a forester and long-time beloved Executive Director of Tin Mountain Conservation Center.  Parking for the Dr. Michael Cline Memorial Forest is available at the small lot across from the water tank on Bald Hill Road.  

In 2021, The Board of Trustees unanimously voted to honor long-time board member Margaret Marshall by naming a section of the Albany Campus, featuring the largest and most northern patch of native Mountain Laurels, in her honor.  Hence the Margaret Marshall Mountain Laurel Warbler Garden was established.  There is space for a few cars on Bald Hill Rd by the engraved rock bearing the name of the garden.  Every spring in late June, this section of forest erupts in spectacular mountain laurel blooms, which attract black-throated blue warblers.  

Finally, the 73 acre Lori Jean Kinsey Arboretum and Sanctuary was named after long-time Tin Mountain employee and current Executive Director.  Lori joined Tin Mountain as the first Teacher-Naturalist in 1984 and was named the first LL Bean Environmental Educator in 2008. Be sure to explore the 1.2 mile Accessible Nature Trail located in the LJK Arboretum and Sanctuary. The trail's flat surface and gradual grades welcome everyone.  Beautiful stonework, a Chocorua overlook, benches along the way and 'bump-outs' with benches make this an inviting place to walk, sit, listen to and enjoy the natural world.  Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of the picnic tables in the Kendal C. and Anna Ham Foundation Pavilion.

There’s so much to see at Tin Mountain in Albany.  Enjoy this gallery of sights, you’ll have to visit to hear the sounds!