7 sculpture gardens that blend art and nature

Art doesn’t need to be hemmed in by walls to be appreciated. In fact, when sculptures pepper parks and gardens, a synergy develops that can help us treasure the art and outdoors even more. Exploring any of these 7 outdoor sculpture enclaves is sure to provide an enriching experience for your whole family, even if they may not be art aficionados.

Whether you’re strolling along the paths that link the gardens or hiking the woodland trails, the landscape here envelops you in sensory stimuli. In the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses, for example, you can walk barefoot along the stone-laden reflexology labyrinth, listen to a rushing waterfall, and sniff the fragrance of aromatic herbs.

But the real goal of every visitor is to discover the 5 wondrous, giant trolls—Guardians of the Seeds—created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. They’re all fashioned from repurposed wood: pallets, floorboards, and downed trees.

You’ll have to hunt for them in the forest—it can take hours to find them all—but you won’t be disappointed by their unique traits, like wild hair made from tree roots or a long beard formed from branches. Opens for the season May 1. Adults, $24.

Blessed with a dramatic setting, this 3-acre landscape sits high above Perkins Cove. Butterflies flit about in 18 discrete garden environments that surround the museum, which showcases the works of notable modern American artists such as Peggy Bacon and Marsden Hartley.

The Garden Pond features an arched footbridge and native plants such as blue asters and cattails, while the Hydrangea Garden shows off long-blooming specimens.

Blending with the garden artistry, an array of mostly figurative sculptures includes Breaching Whale and Otters, simplified images of the animals in granite by Cabot Lyford; and Frances Lamont’s granite Garden Toad. Others are eccentric (Bernard Langlais’ wooden Rhino) or poignant (the marble Life Entwined by Antoinette Prien Schultze). Opens for the season on April 29. Adults, $15.

Sculptor Bernard Langlais’ final home is dedicated to his whimsical wooden constructions. Largely hewn from discarded timber, some show the natural wear and tear of Maine’s harsh climate, while others are fully painted. A quarter-mile trail runs past ponds, lawns, fields, and an apple orchard to take you around all 13 sculptures, which are spread across 5 acres.

In Nixon, the president seems to rise out of a small pond with arms outstretched, signing V for Victory. Polar, grizzly, black, sun, and teddy bears gather in Five Bears. In Geometric Cow, Langlais appears to have deconstructed the bovine bearing a prominent, swaying udder. Horse, the preserve’s signature piece, overlooks River Road from a rock ledge. Free; donations suggested for barn/workshop admission.

A sense of magic and discovery pervades your walk along forest trails and the short loop that links almost 2 dozen different outdoor spaces, including the Rock Garden.

You might spot blue herons, kingfishers, and other birds as you pass a serpentine water channel, a teahouse, and unusual botanicals such as golden larch—an ornamental tree from Asia. Quirky sculptures pop up just about everywhere, whether it’s a prehistoric-looking metal bird hanging from a tree branch or a frightening stone head submerged underwater.

Jill Nooney, garden designer and co-owner (along with Bob Munger) of this 30-acre tract, created most of the fantastical sculptures, many from found objects such as roof ventilators and barbell weights. Tree branches help form the cluster of human-like figures in the Dark Woods, while a bug-eyed insect crafted from car and tractor parts perches elsewhere in a clearing. Opens for the season on May 15. Free; $15 suggested donation.

Twelve miles of trails zigzag across the slope of 613-foot Big Bear Mountain, a former downhill ski area that became New England’s largest outdoor gallery space in the late 1990s. Hardly unusual—until your woodland wanderings bring you to Passage of Time by Robert Tirrell Sr., what surely looks like an impressive bank vault door among the trees. In a clearing, the 3 wolf-like creatures made of metal, glass, stone, and marble in Debate by Tomas Kus seem to be engaged in a heated discussion.

Co-founded by nature lover, art aficionado, and engineer Paul Andres and sculptor John M. Weidman, the Andres Institute is a 140-acre expanse stretching up to the summit near Weidman’s studio. Visitors might find him repairing Sculpture Park pieces or working on a commission, but he’s often open to chatting.

Whether you pick up a paper map in the parking lot, use Trailforks app’s digital map, or casually ramble, your mind, body, and spirit will get a workout on the paved Parkway Trail or any of the 13 gravel-and-dirt paths. Some routes are easy; others are strenuous. Either way, you’ll encounter some of the more than 100 intriguing works by artists from 50 different countries as far away as Ukraine and Kenya. Free; donations suggested.

A sweeping former dairy farm ringed by rolling hills and woodland is the bucolic home to the monumental works of Vermont sculptor David Stromeyer. For more than 50 years, he’s been creating abstract forms from materials often thought of as rigid: mainly steel, but also concrete and aluminum, with some sculptures incorporating fieldstones that weigh tons.

And yet, many of the 6 dozen pieces on display are playful, some demonstrating an unexpected sense of fluidity. Three miles of mowed paths curve through meadows peppered with his art.

Moments In Play resembles a seesaw, with boulders sitting on either end. (Despite its 7-ton weight, it rotates in a light breeze.) The pink- and blue-hued Double Play shows off the word play in duplicate, referencing the importance of this activity in the creative act. Opens for the season in mid-June. Free; donations suggested.

Hiking enthusiasts, botany fans, and lovers of the visual and performing arts are all attracted to this 100-acre hilltop property. The works populating the surrounding meadows are visible from your car or on foot along the mile-long paved road that meanders up to the campus.

Along the way, trimmed grassy paths lead to many of the outdoor sculptures. The Muse is a 30-foot-high figurative work by metal sculptor Jack Howard Potter. Wendy Klemperer created Leader of the Pack, a fused trio of wild canines. And The Dancer is a graceful, large-scale cast aluminum piece by Emily Winthrop Miles.

For a closer connection with nature, amble the Boswell Botany Trail, which is lush with jack-in-the-pulpit and other flowers, or hike the SVAC Loop Trail, which connects with the Equinox Preserve’s 11 miles of trails. Closed Mondays. Adults, $10.

New York City–based travel writer and photographer Jeanine Barone has written for the New York Times and the Washington Post. She’s an avid cyclist and Nordic skier.