The Arboretum Is Moving Its Front Doors. This Fall Is the Last Season Through the Old Ones.

How do you get into the Arb? If you're like most Chanhassen drivers, you turn off Highway 5 at the gatehouse you've used for years, or you park at the AppleHouse for a bag of Honeycrisp. Both of those habits have an end date. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is in the middle of a multiphase rebuild it calls Building a Better Arboretum. The plan moves the AppleHouse to a new site with its own road and moves the main entrance west to a new traffic signal.

The Arb's winter tradition has also been rebuilt, with a new name and a new price. These next few months are the overlap, when the old routines are still open and the new ones are either just opening or nearly built.

Last Call on the Research Center Grounds

The Arb's fall page says plainly that this is the AppleHouse's last year in its current location. North Star Donuts is serving donuts, coffee and cider there Tuesday through Sunday through Oct. 31. Starting Nov. 6, the building becomes a Holiday Boutique that still sells fresh apples and gourmet foods next to gifts and holiday decor.

The current building belongs to the Horticultural Research Center, the University of Minnesota's fruit-breeding operation. The University's Capital Project Management office says the AppleHouse has outgrown its building and is moving off the research grounds to protect research operations. The replacement, called Betty's Apple House, is going up near Farm at the Arb. On the University's project page it's a $22.4 million project. Construction started in October 2025, and completion is listed for December 2026.

As of the Arb's summer 2026 update, the building's roof and exterior were finished and crews were framing and drywalling the interior. The two-way entry road off 82nd Street and the parking lot were close to done, and an event lawn was taking shape in front of the building. The Arb's public opening target is the 2027 apple season. Until then the existing AppleHouse keeps opening seasonally, the way it always has.

The new building comes with a new way in. Your trip will no longer start inside the main Arb grounds. Primary access to Betty's Apple House will be from 82nd Street off Highway 41, along a new access corridor heading north. A connection from the Highway 5 Regional Trail and an internal drive from the Oswald Visitor Center area are planned for later. The Arb says Betty's will stay free and open to the public. It will add interpretive exhibits on the University's fruit breeding at the Horticultural Research Center since 1908, Honeycrisp included, and will sell ice cream and other goods from the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.

That future route is under construction right now. On Carver County's Highway 5 project page, Highway 41 south of Highway 5 to 82nd Street is listed as closed through the construction season. Southbound traffic is detoured by way of Highway 5, Bavaria Road, Highway 18 and Highway 15. Next fall, the road that leads to the new apple stand will be the road that's closed today.

Winter Lights Became Northern Lights, and the Ticket Changed With It

The second door to change is the evening one. Winter Lights is gone. Its replacement, Northern Lights, runs Nov. 20, 2026 through Jan. 3, 2027, from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. It's closed Nov. 26, Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. The Northern Lights FAQ calls it an all-new event, built on professionally designed, customized lighting where the old displays used traditional string lights.

Here is how the two compare, using the Arb's own descriptions of each:

The math is simple. Last year two member adults paid $20 for Winter Lights. This year the same pair pays $50 in advance for Northern Lights. Gate tickets, when available, cost another $10 per person for members and nonmembers alike, and the gate takes credit cards only. Parking is still free. The member discount is $10 per ticket bought in advance, and how many tickets get it depends on your membership level. Solo covers one ticket, Duo covers two, Duo+2, Gold and Photographer cover four, and Gold Plus and Giving Society cover six.

The higher price buys a different kind of show. In its Northern Lights preview, MIX 108 named the planned displays, including Glittering Gorge, Canopy Pass, Vibrant Vitae, Geometric Gardens, Radiant Rootstock and Shadow Play, a 60-foot interactive wall. Visitor buildings stay open with indoor art, shopping, and food and drink. A warming tent and bar will sit near the Sensory Garden. The FAQ says there's no drive-through option and no live music. Bank of America is the presenting sponsor. Bolton & Menk, one of the firms on the entrance rebuild, sponsors Geometric Gardens, and Loeffler Construction sponsors the Warming Hut.

One piece carries over. The poinsettia tree, a fixture of Winter Lights, is back in the new show. The FAQ also says the route works for wheelchairs, strollers and walkers. It flags some uneven sections, a steeper slope, moving theatrical lights and a haze effect, and says no strobe lighting is used.

The Main Gate Moves West Next Year

The third door is the main gate itself. The Arb's main entrance is moving west along Highway 5 to Minnewashta Parkway, where a new four-way traffic signal and a new gatehouse will handle arrivals. The existing gatehouse will become a separate entrance for bikes and pedestrians, connected to the Highway 5 Regional Trail. The current entrance drive will become exit-only, with a right merge onto Highway 5. The University of Minnesota Regents' October 2026 finance docket estimates the entrance project at $12.4 million.

As of August 2026, the Arb reported the new entry 65 to 70 percent complete. This spring alone, crews planted 550 hand-selected trees, 1,800 shrubs and 80,000 plugs along the new drive, including tamarack, shagbark hickory, spruce, tulip poplar and University-developed Lights series azaleas. The Arb ties the opening to Carver County's Highway 5 work and lists 2027 for both.

That county project is the bigger story for anyone who drives Highway 5 every day. Carver County is widening Highway 5 from two lanes to four, from west of Highway 41 in Chanhassen to downtown Victoria. The project also includes intersection improvements, a rebuilt Highway 13, stormwater treatment, and safer trail crossings. Construction runs from winter 2026 through autumn 2027. Work in 2026 has centered on the north–south roads, the regional trail, and the stretch of Highway 5 near the current Arb entrance. In 2027 the focus shifts to Highway 5 between Victoria and Chanhassen. The county's schedule materials say all roads will reopen over the winter break between the two construction seasons.

For Northern Lights season, that means the familiar route still works. The Arb says its current Highway 5 entrance stays open during construction, and the Northern Lights FAQ repeats the point for evening visitors. As of mid-October, the county lists Highway 5 at one lane each way from east of Century Boulevard to Highway 41. Lane and shoulder closures with flaggers continue outside peak travel times. These restrictions change week to week, so check the county page before you head out.

The Overlap, Date by Date

Each item below is either the last chance at something familiar or the first night of something new:

1. Sunday, Oct. 25, 1:30–3 p.m. The Brasscots play Music in the Garden.
2. Saturday, Oct. 31. The last day of North Star Donuts at the current AppleHouse and the last day of the 500-plus-variety pumpkin display. The Music in the Garden schedule lists the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra at 1:30 p.m.
3. Sunday, Nov. 1. Scarecrows, Pumpkins & Harvest Fun wraps up its daily run.
4. Friday, Nov. 6. The AppleHouse reopens as a Holiday Boutique for its final stretch at the current site.
5. Friday, Nov. 20. Northern Lights opens for its first season.
6. Nov. 26, Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. Northern Lights is closed.
7. Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027. Northern Lights' final night.
8. 2027. Betty's Apple House opens for the apple season off 82nd Street, and the new main gate opens at Minnewashta Parkway along with the widened Highway 5.

The Arb also notes that fall gate admission can be applied toward a membership. With this year's ticket prices, that can make sense for a household that plans to see Northern Lights. For more around town this season, Randy's Chanhassen neighborhood page and his summer 2026 guide to Chanhassen cover the Civic Campus and downtown construction happening at the same time.

Next fall, getting apples will mean turning off Highway 41 onto 82nd Street, and a day at the gardens will start at the signal at Minnewashta Parkway.

If you want to talk through how the Highway 5 rebuild and the Arb's new entrances fit into plans for your own home or your next move, reach out to Randy Kellogg. Get 100% Randy on Your Side.