Nature & Gardens in New Jersey, NJ
There are 8 nature & gardens in and around New Jersey. Each card below shows what it costs, when it opens and which ages it suits.
Sorted by distance from the middle of New Jersey, nearest first. Those are straight-line miles, so every drive is longer than the number on the card.
A historic house with 5.8 acres of landscaped gardens in Montclair, open free to visitors every day of the year from dawn to dusk. Families can walk the grounds…
View place
View place
An 83-acre cultural campus on Staten Island combining museums, botanical gardens, and arts programs. Families can explore multiple museums with a Discovery Pass…
View place
An arboretum on a historic estate in Summit, New Jersey, dedicated to American gardening traditions. Families can walk the grounds to see flowering trees, azaleas…
View place
A 52-acre botanical garden in Brooklyn where families walk through different planted landscapes and take part in nature-focused programs and seasonal events…
View place
View place
A public garden in the northwest Bronx overlooking the Hudson River, with flower beds, an alpine house, and greenhouses alongside a cultural center. Families can…
View place
The New York Botanical Garden is a 250-acre living museum in the Bronx featuring thousands of plants, art exhibitions, and educational spaces. Families can walk…
View place
Queens Botanical Garden is an urban garden in Flushing where visitors explore themed plantings and outdoor spaces. Families can walk through the gardens, which…
View place
View place
A 180-acre public botanic garden on the Rutgers University campus in North Brunswick, with planted display areas, natural habitats, research zones, and a working…
View place
A botanical garden in Ringwood with walking trails through woodlands and cultivated gardens. Families can explore year-round, with guided nature walks designed for…
View place
View place
A Charles II-style mansion set within 200 acres of formal gardens, woodlands, ponds, and lakes on Long Island. Families can explore the house and grounds, which…
View place
A 42-acre arboretum on Long Island's North Shore, set within the former gardens of horticulturist Frank Bailey. Families can walk marked trails through curated…
View place
A botanical center in Cos Cob offering plant-focused education and nature connection for families and the wider community. Visitors can explore the grounds, attend…
View place
Stamford Museum & Nature Center is a museum and nature center in Stamford, Connecticut that offers families opportunities to explore exhibits and outdoor spaces…
Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens is a 93-acre public garden and nature preserve in Stamford, Connecticut, featuring 13 distinct gardens, forested trails, and…
View place
A 93-acre arboretum in Stamford with forests and gardens open to the public every day from dawn to dusk at no charge. Families can walk the grounds to see trees…
View place
View place
Darien Nature Center is a nonprofit environmental education organization located inside Cherry Lawn Park in Darien, CT, offering hands-on nature programs, animal…
New Canaan Nature Center is a nonprofit environmental education organization set on 40 acres in New Canaan, CT, offering trails, gardens, a greenhouse, and a live…
Hudson Highlands Nature Museum Outdoor Discovery Center is an environmental education campus in Cornwall, NY, featuring hiking trails, a Wildlife Center with live…
Woodcock Nature Center is a nonprofit environmental education organization in Wilton, CT, offering trails, a playground, and animal enclosures for families to…
A 15-acre garden in Cold Spring, New York, featuring diverse plant collections across multiple display gardens. Visitors walk through the grounds to see alpines…
View place
View place
Ansonia Nature Center is a city-owned nature park in Ansonia, Connecticut, spread across 156 wooded acres with two and a half miles of trails, a pond, streams, and…
Cedar Run is a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of New Jersey’s wildlife and habitats through education, conservation and rehabilitation. It sits on 171…
View place
A walled garden in Hyde Park designed by Beatrix Farrand, now undergoing restoration. Families can visit the landscape, attend expert talks about gardening and…
View place
Pratt Nature Center is a 205-acre wildlife preserve and environmental education center in New Milford, Connecticut, featuring mountains, meadows, woods, gardens…
View place
A garden in northwestern Connecticut designed in the English style, with a formal layout planted generously and informally. Families visit for free and can walk…
View place
An arboretum on the Haverford College campus in Pennsylvania, open to the community as well as students. Families can walk the nature trails, where signage helps…
View place
Flanders Nature Center is a nature preserve and land trust in Woodbury, CT, offering over 2,400 acres of protected open space for hiking and outdoor exploration…
A family-run arboretum and botanical garden in Stone Ridge showing plant collections from across the world. Visitors walk through different themed gardens…
View place
A botanical garden in Devon, Pennsylvania, with seasonal plantings and woodland paths. Families can walk through gardens that change throughout the year, from…
View place
A 1000-acre property in rural New York combining gardens, hiking trails, and a historic house. Families can walk the grounds, explore the classical garden, and…
View place
The Scott Arboretum & Gardens sits on the Swarthmore College campus and grows trees, shrubs, and seasonal plantings across its grounds. Families can walk the…
View place
White Memorial Conservation Center is an environmental education center and nature museum set within a 4,000-acre foundation in the hills of northwestern…
View place
Where a card says no price or no hours listed, the venue does not publish it. We would rather leave the gap than fill it with a guess. Prices come from each venue's own website, and we publish one only when the figure appears on the page we took it from. Tell us if we are missing one you know.
Which one, by age
Two children three years apart do not have to be a compromise. The age line on every card shows what that venue serves.
Ansonia Nature Center
Best here for under 2, 72 miles out, listed ages 0–12 and free admission.
Wave Hill
Best here for two to five, 18 miles out, listed ages 3–12 and admission $4.
Stamford Museum & Nature Center
Best here for six to nine, 42 miles out, listed ages 3–12 and admission $15.
Lasdon Park, Arboretum, and Veterans Memorial
Best here for ten and up, 44 miles out, listed ages 3–16 and free admission.
Free nature & gardens in New Jersey
8 places on this page get you in free. That makes a short trip easy to justify on a day when nobody is sure how long they will last.
Reeves-Reed Arboretum
Free to get in, 9 miles out and listed ages 0–16.
The Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Free to get in and 15 miles out.
Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens
Free to get in and 42 miles out.
Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens
Free to get in, 43 miles out and listed ages 3–12.
Lasdon Park, Arboretum, and Veterans Memorial
Free to get in, 44 miles out and listed ages 3–16.
Hudson Highlands Nature Museum Outdoor Discovery Center
Free to get in, 48 miles out and listed ages 0–12.
Ansonia Nature Center
Free to get in, 72 miles out and listed ages 0–12.
Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens
Free to get in, 81 miles out and listed ages 0–16.
By town
Most of these are not in New Jersey proper, and the town is usually what decides whether a place is worth the trip.
Nature & Gardens in Stamford
3 of them: Stamford Museum & Nature Center, Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens and Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens, the closest 42 miles from the middle of New Jersey and 3 with a published admission price.
Nature & Gardens in Bronx
2 of them: Wave Hill and The New York Botanical Garden, the closest 18 miles from the middle of New Jersey and 2 with a published admission price.
Planning a visit
These run from 7 to 87 miles out from the middle of New Jersey. Hours move with the season and with school holidays, so check the listing before you set off. If you run one of the places on this page, you can claim it for free and keep its hours and prices right.
Before you go
Grip socks. Almost every venue requires them for children and several require them for adults. Most sell them at the door for a few dollars. Bringing your own is cheaper and means you are not buying a fourth pair.
Check whether adults pay. It runs from free to full price and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you.
Weekday mornings are the toddler rush. If you want space, aim for after two on a school day. Weekend mornings are the busiest hours of the week almost everywhere.
Ninety minutes is the realistic ceiling for most children under five. There is rarely a gradual wind down. Leaving with time left on the clock is not wasted money, it is a better afternoon.
Call ahead in school holidays. Several of these venues run camps and private events that close open play with no notice on the website.
Looking somewhere else in the metro? Browse every kid-friendly place in New Jersey.
Other things to do in New Jersey
Nature & Gardens in nearby cities
Common questions about nature & gardens in New Jersey
How many nature & gardens are there in New Jersey?
We list 8 nature & gardens within 90 miles of New Jersey, NJ. Every one is a published listing with an address we checked.
Which nature & gardens in New Jersey publish their prices?
15 of the 8 here do, and each price was checked word for word against the venue's own page before we published it. The rest do not publish one, so their card says no price listed rather than carrying a guess.
Are any nature & gardens in New Jersey free?
Yes. 5 places get you in free: Reeves-Reed Arboretum, The Frelinghuysen Arboretum, Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens, Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens and Lasdon Park, Arboretum, and Veterans Memorial.
Which nature & gardens in New Jersey suit a toddler?
13 of them list an age range starting at two or under. Check the age line on each card, because a place that suits a six-year-old does not always suit a two-year-old.
How did Mini Navigators choose these nature & gardens?
We list every one we have within 90 miles of the center of New Jersey. Each is a published place with an address we geocoded and checked, and the business can claim its listing to keep the hours and prices current.
Do adults have to pay?
It varies more than you would expect, from free to full price, and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you. The price on each card is what it costs to get a child in. Where a venue publishes an adult price it is on the listing, and where it does not we have left it out rather than assume.
Do I need to book ahead?
Usually not for open play, but several venues cap capacity at weekends and during school holidays, and some close open play entirely for private events. Where a venue has its own booking page, the listing links straight to it.
What should I bring?
Grip socks, a water bottle, a change of clothes for anyone under four, and a plan for leaving before the meltdown rather than after it.
What else is there to do with kids in New Jersey?
New Jersey has 8 categories of kid-friendly places on Mini Navigators, from playgrounds and museums to splash pads and zoos. The New Jersey hub lists all of them.
Listings last checked August 21, 2026.