The Ithaca Discovery Trail is a collaboration among hands-on museums and the public library in Tompkins County, New York

Tompkins County, New York

Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and comprises the whole of the Ithaca metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,564. The county seat is Ithaca, and the county is home to Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community...

. Its member institutions are: Cayuga Nature Center

Cayuga Nature Center

The Cayuga Nature Center is an educational institution addressing nature and environmental issues. It is located on the west side of Lake Cayuga in Tompkins County, New York.-History:...

, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell Plantations

Cornell Plantations

The Cornell Plantations are botanical gardens located adjacent to the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. The Plantations proper consist of of botanical gardens and of the F.R. Newman Arboretum...

, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is most well known for its distinctive concrete facade, its collection which includes two windows from Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin...

, Museum of the Earth

Museum of the Earth

The Museum of the Earth is a public natural history museum. It is located in Ithaca, New York, on the campus of the PRI, its parent organization.-Paleontological Research Institution:...

, Sciencenter

Sciencenter

Sciencenter is a hands-on science museum in Ithaca, New York. It was founded on February 28, 1983 as a 501 not-for-profit educational organization. The Sciencenter grew out of the volunteer-run hands-on science program run for 15 years at several elementary schools in the Ithaca City School District...

, The History Center of Tompkins County, and Tompkins County Public Library.

History

Prior to the founding of the Discovery Trail, museums worked together informally on joint promotions. In 1999, the Ithaca Discovery Trail was established using a grant to fund a part-time coordinator. It was incorporated in 2007 and gained a Section 501(c)(3) tax exemption in 2008.

In 2005, the Discovery Trail began the "Kids Discover the Trail!" (KDT) project with the Ithaca Public Education Initiative and Ithaca City School District (ICSD). KDT connects the eight ICSD elementary schools with the eight Discovery Trail institutions by providing curriculum-based field trips and instructional materials. About 2,900 students participate each year.

Programs

The Discovery Trail cross-promotes the eight member institutions which form a "33-mile loop of exploration." The Discovery Trail promotes the "Ithaca Discovery Trail" as a distinctive brand that links the member institutions, and the Discovery Trail conducts the co-marketing effort among its eight members, which includes:

• collaborative programming;
• participation in community-wide events;
• a website;
• distribution of a common brochure;
• a biannual visitor survey, focus groups and analysis of visitor data (which is performed by Cornell's Survey Research Institute); and
• media press releases and advertising.

The Discovery Trail carries out joint events, programs, and exhibitions and works closely with the Tompkins County Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Discovery Trail also maintains a joint calendar of events.

The Discovery Trail is funded by the Tompkins County Strategic Tourism Board and by member contributions.