Rutgers Gardens — Attraction in North Brunswick Township

Rutgers Gardens was SPECTACULAR, and EXTRAORDINARY. And the garden part of it was not the best part, for me. I rode my bike 2.5 miles to get there and go in to the farthest-in parking lot, lock up my bike to a small tree or wooden fence, THEN walk into the PRISTINE and NATURAL FOREST, that starts at the end of the parking lot (and the garden part), and goes all the way to route 18, like a TWO MILE LONG trail through the woods, with a gigantic meadow in the middle. This is a GIGANTIC, mostly undeveloped area between Ryder's Lane and Route 18, just south of Route 1, between Route 1 and Weston Pond. Some of these dirt paths thru the woods run along the top of a cliff overlooking Weston Pond, with places to climb down to the lakefront. Other parts of these paths run along the edge of a high ravine whose creek empties into Weston Pond. For a woodsman and Eagle Scout like me, this relatively undeveloped area, sandwiched between busy highways like Route 1 and Route 18, is almost like having an untouched (and unexpected) wilderness in your backyard. And the meadow in the middle is almost big enough to hold the Woodstock Festival in. And there is a nice evergreen woods, or small pine forest, planted in neat rows probably about 80 years ago, near the meadow. And you can hike the trail all the way underneath the Route 18 bridges to Edgebrook Road, in the Edgebrook section of New Brunswick, the nicest part of New Brunswick, by far. It's NICE in there, in the woods and forests of Rutgers Gardens, beyond all the...

I have always enjoyed going to Rutgers Garden, but today was a complete awful experience. My pregnant fiancé, and I hired a photographer for a maternity shoot. We began taking pictures, and immediately a staff member dangerously drives up onto the grass at a high rate of speed, almost hitting us, and jumps out of her vehicle. She exited her vehicle so quickly that she left her door open. She began yelling, and asking for a permit to take the pictures. We did not have one. Yes we failed to check the website. We did not know. This was our first time ever having professional photos taken. The lady was extremely rude. She continued talking back, raising her voice, and failed to even introduce herself. This encounter was extremely unprofessional. We gave her no reason to act in such a rude, hateful manner. The administration needs to immediately look into this employee and review her file. I am confident that she has acted like this before because she had no remorse in trying to explain to us the situation without yelling. Rutgers should feel embarrassed to allow such an unprofessional employee...

I went with my daughter and her friends here to take pictures for their prom. I had always heard about Rutgers Gardens but this was my first time attending. While there I encountered a woman who claimed she led the youth program there. I noticed that she was harassing minorities about taking pictures in the gardens. There were no signs anywhere in the gardens stating that pictures are prohibited. At one point she told us that if we wished to continue to take pictures to go to Taco Bell down the street. I’m not sure if this was a racial comment we are Hispanic but none the less it was rude. I have worked for Rutgers UBHC and as a Part time lecturer for the Rutgers School of Social Work. I have never felt more disrespected in my life. I can’t comment on the gardens themselves because she literally harassed us all throughout the park and therefore ruined my...