Many people don't know this but New Jersey has alot of parks. Some are real good finds. Flat Rock…read moreBrook is a hidden gem. It is tucked away in a residential neighborhood. We went on Friday afternoon and we were lucky to get a parking space. The parking lot is small with only about 15 spots. Hiking was very easy even though it was not marked. It was nice to be able to enjoy the great outdoors without having to drive a long distance. The highlight of the visit was the aviary. The aviary housed 1 falcon and 2 owls. It was really cool to see these birds close up!

Flat Rock is more rustic than I expected given the location and relative lack of hype. It offers…read moremore varied terrain than some other suburban spots like Emerson Woods Preserve. The sign mentioning NYC being 4.3 miles away is a clever comment on the unexpected location, unclear if that's a "crow files" metric or an actual journey involving walking over the GWB. (click here for my "Fear of Heights" podcast on Audacy). At least one of the wooden bridges across the water wasn't in good shape. If it fails you won't drown but you might get muddy. And in one major advantage over other quirky NJ nature spots is the existence of a bathroom (depending on the hours of the nature center building, which are shorter than those of the overall preserve). Geography notes: you won't want to walk all the way to/from downtown Englewood as I did, the 166 bus gets relatively close but is a relatively slow ride.

Great place for a stroll, jog or hike w friends and family. Awesome learning center and wild life…read moreexhibits to explore.

Part of the Bergen County Park System, the J.A. Mcfaul Envirinmental Center is an education and…read morewildlife oasis in an otherwise suburban community. The center features both an indoor and outdoor experience. The outdoor experience offers well maintained nature trails which circumvent a large duck pond where you wild find swans, turtles, waterlillies and other wildlife. A beautiful gazebo overlooks the pond and is surrounded by flowerbeds. Hiking along the lake trail will take you to a two story observation deck. Many people use the paved entrance road to walk or jog. It is a one mile go-around with many joggers the day I visited. For those interested in an up close look at a red-tailed hawk, owls, pigeons and a red fox, the center has caged environments especially for that purpose. The indoor environmental center is a good sized facility designed to educate visitors about native fauna and flora. There are two main rooms. The room off the looby has a variety of fis tanks displaying turtles, snakes, frogs, etc.. Educational displays feature charts, photos, taxidermy and artifacts. I particularly liked the bear display. Adjacent to this room is the observatory room. Large windows give you an opportunity to view the duck pond and wildlife. This room has displays ranging from bats, bees, trees, etc.. Well maintained restrooms are available. In summary. While this is not comparable to a large zoo. it has many things to look at and experience for a well spent morning or afternoon. The facility is free of charge.

Hands down one of the best parks in Bergen County…read more The Wild Duck Pond Area part of Saddle River County Park is not huge by any imagination, but it's definitely one of the nicest and more peaceful parks with the duck pond and its fountains. And, if you're a resident of the county, then you'll clearly know that no playground compares to Van Saun's, but this park's playground is relatively larger than most and quite clean. On our most recent visit on a super gorgeous Spring Saturday afternoon, it was busy, but not overly crowded. Besides the pond and playground, there are multiple picnic tables on the park grounds for those looking to have a nice picnic or small gathering. Like I said, it's one of the nicer parks and playgrounds in the area and worth the trip if you're looking for a low-key, yet nice playground for your kids to play at.

This Duck Pond had always been a nice place to visit…read more However, we had not been there for about one year. We were quite disappointed yesterday. The walking path was dirty with goose and dog droppings throughout. We had to walk gingerly to avoid them. It seemed as though there hadn't been a cleaning for several days.

I love the outdoors , but this hike was not my favorite :( it has an absurd amount of insects…read moreand YES I know it's a forest , but it not even well kept when it comes to markers on the trees for hikers . You can easily get lost because there's barely any markers or directions . The view from the summit is ok but even that doesn't have a sign either . They have bathroom signs to bathrooms that don't exist . Parking to a lot that says private lot .. nature is beautiful . But I wouldn't recommend this place , the pictures posted here are the ONLY thing to see . DO NOT RECOMMEND !!! There are other beautiful hiking places ..

Norvin Green is one of my absolute favorite places in NJ to hike. It has a tremendous variety of…read moretrails with different terrain, difficulty level and unique environments; if the mood strikes you, it's possible to hike up and down a few mountains with gorgeous 360-degree views, or something much easier that involves exploring some of the mines on the eastern side of the forest, closer to the reservoir. There's something for virtually any type of hiker, and because so much of the area is rugged, you're not likely to find too many ignorant young hiking pups wandering aimlessly without water or a map. I usually get out here at least a few times every year, and most recently stopped by with one of my chums two Saturdays ago for an 8.1-mile hike. If you're approaching Norvin Green from 287, I would strongly recommend stopping by the Quick Chek on 511 - the bathroom options are pretty much non-existent in the forest (apart from strategically placed foliage), the employees there are always very pleasant and you have a lot of hiking snack options if you haven't had time to preplan that aspect of the adventure. We did a circuitous route beginning at the Weis parking lot up the green trail, past the natural pool to the kiosk, then up blue to Wyanokie High Point, back down and continuing on the blue trail to Carris Hill, then taking the yellow trail from there down into the wetlands, turning west onto the blue trail, past Chik Falls and over to Otter Hole. At that point, you can either take the green Otter Hole trail back to the kiosk (I think that's about 6 miles), or turn west again in .2 miles onto yellow and up Buck Mountain, meandering along the ridge until you hit the woods road (subjective term) and can follow it back to the green trail/kiosk. Deciding to incorporate Buck Mountain adds about two miles to the trip, so if your haunches aren't up to it, just keep going north on green. You'll still get a workout in, regardless. The climb up to Wyanokie is fairly strenuous. I'm in very good hiking shape and can do it without any breaks if needed, but you're definitely earning the views once you ascend past the main tree line. The view on top has to be one of the top two or three in the state; on a clear day, you can see the NYC skyline (that's true as well for the top of Buck Mountain and several points along the yellow trail before it descends), as well as the mountainous regions to the north and west. It's gorgeous, and the only damper on this particular day was the obvious effects of the seasonal drought - tons of brown foliage and several of the water features were dried up or close to it. Especially down in the wetlands, you're usually hopping over a small stream or two. Not on this day, and Chik Falls was a barely discernable trickle. The Buck Mountain climb is one of the toughest in the area - if you can do it without taking a breather, god bless. It's something like an 800-foot ascent in .1 miles; it doesn't require actual rock scrambling or climbing, but it's probably in the tier right below that. But as with Wyanokie, you're getting amazing views for the sweat expended on the incline, and because it's a nastier section of the forest, there isn't nearly as much foot traffic. It's not unusual to get some solid wildlife sightings up on the ridge. This particular hike certainly had its share of wildlife. We saw either a garter or ribbon snake with Pittsburgh Steelers coloring, a skink, AKA the corgi of lizards, oodles of small frogs (presumably panicking over the lack of water), and met two canine chums, Nala and Argo. A very solid crop, and not out of the ordinary for this area. I couldn't recommend this place more highly. Nearby Wanaque doesn't have a lot of great eating options, so given that you've more than earned your calories from tromping around in the woods, I'd venture a little further south to sup on scrumptiousness.

medium sized county park with a roughly 1 mile blue blazedxloop trail leading from the north end of…read morethe parking lot to a small waterfall and then up to a peak with a view of Rockland County (closeup are is a very scenic industrial park LOL).. waterfall was quite unimpressive on Thanksgiving Day 2016 due to the recent drought, i gather from photos I saw it is much better after a big rain or spring snowmelt.. when you go up the blue blaze trail after descending from peak you will see a gravel road turn right and follow white blaze back to parking lot.

I absolutely love this park for hiking. I usually hike along the coast and the views are amazing! I…read morelove a nice water view and this park provides it. You get views of New York City from here. There is a small fee to park in the parking lot here. During my last visit, we encountered a friendly trooper who gave us a park map. We didn't need it, but it was a nice gesture. There is a beach like area along the trail and I enjoy stopping in this section and looking for seashells. If you're not into hiking or biking, this still seems like a nice park to sit and enjoy the day for a few hours. Pack a picnic lunch and go!

Hiking and biking in Alpine, with views of the Hudson River and plenty of shade and rocks. Its…read moreproximity to the Palisades Parkway can be either a plus for convenience or a con because you're not really escaping cars or noise. Trails are pretty well maintained and there are a few hikes of varying lengths to do. Ive never been to Huylers landing which has bathrooms and some basic food and drinks for sale but parking is paid. Not my favorite place to hike but not bad every once in awhile.

Lived in Bergenfield NJ for the last 25 years and I have passed this park a million times-today I…read moretold my hubby let's go explore it's such a beautiful 80 degrees breezy day. It's small the walking paths but sooo much beauty I was engulfed in nature-these unique big trees-I wanted to clime one but saw a spotted bug (lol) kept on walking. Then we saw a gazebo with benches a place where weddings can take place and very nice pictures. Next to this was a gated entrance to a gorgeous rose garden and benches to sit, perhaps read a book or just enjoy the butterflies fly around. I also found a space dedicated to Tenefly residents who were lost during COVIDE, very thoughtful I must say. I am very happy we finally took the time to walk this park.

Located in the Village of Piermont on the west shore this small park offers a great vantage point…read moreto take in the grandness of the "Mighty Hudson River". Its a nicely groomed area with a small boardwalk covering the hundred plus feet of northeast facing riverfront. The park is planted with a few shade trees, a nice garden and outfitted with benches to sit and relax. From the Villages web site: "Frank Parelli Park - This park is located at the site of the former Mill beach and is named after a long time resident and 1st President of the Piermont Lions Club Frank Parelli. This park facing the Hudson River has a small boardwalk with benches and is used by both Village residents and our visitors." Parking is right across the street, the park is free for all to use and open till 9pm. BSE23