Hershey Gardens

We visited Hershey Gardens in late October 2025 while staying at the nearby Thousand Trails Hershey RV Park in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Hershey Gardens opened in 1937 with chocolatier and philanthropist Milton Hershey’s request to “create a nice garden of roses.” 88 years later, the small rose garden has blossomed into 23 acres of botanical variety and beauty. Overlooking the town of Hershey, Hershey Gardens features a breathtaking assortment of flowers and shrubs, a stately collection of rare, signature trees, and a signature butterfly atrium.

We started our visit at the Butterfly Atrium with its hundreds of butterflies from around the world in a tropical setting that features colorful plants and water features. Only one of 25 indoor, tropical butterfly atriums in the country, Hershey Gardens’ Butterfly Atrium is home to dozens of rare butterflies from South and Central America, Africa and Asia. Various exotic plants thrive in the warm tropical environment including a Cacao tree and various Plumeria among others.

The spectacular rose garden is the historical highlight of Hershey Gardens, this is where it all began in 1937. The brilliant assortment of 3,000 roses representing 115 varieties includes an interesting mix of heights, colors and flower forms of Hybrid Tea, floribunda, shrub, and miniature roses. Many of the roses were still in bloom when we visited in early fall. We really enjoyed wandering among the roses and sampling their fragrances.

There are 11 themed gardens that we wandered through as we followed the meandering paths, there were some interesting finds as we wandered through the gardens including a lone Sequoia tree. We enjoyed the spectacular colors of the chrysanthemums in the seasonal garden.