The Grove — Attraction in Northfield Township

For the last four years I came to the Grove a lot. It was a very safe and peaceful place. Now I would be very careful bringing children and the vulnerable to this location. Lately, I noticed within the past three weeks that after 4 pm, there are cars in the parking lot, lots of them and there are no events. The other day there was a very strong chemical smell and they were cars parked right outside the Grove as well as next to the Grove after hours. I got a very severe headache and almost passed out. I think there’s illegal activity happening at the Grove right now and I think they’re dumping chemicals. So I would be very very careful bringing the elderly or children or even families to this location until this gets rectified. I find it very odd that all of a sudden after 4 PM you see cars all over the parking lot and the last time I parked in the parking lot, the staff member actually came straight to me and made sure that I was gone by 4 PM because they had to close the gate so why all of a sudden are these random vans, SUVs, way after 4 PM all over that location and on top of it there is definitely some illegal chemical dumping happening so if you start to get dizzy or a headache in and around that location it may be coming from the Grove. I’d make sure you tell your loved ones when you go to the Grove in case you pass out, fall or something happens but the Grove needs to do some investigation because I think there’s criminal activity...

We visited in early August with three young children, 7 and younger. The Interpretive Center has a huge variety of reptiles that kept them occupied for a long time. We were all particularly impressed by the alligator snapping turtle. It really captured our kids' imaginations. We also took tours of the Kennicott House and the old fashioned school house. The guides did a great job highlighting facts and details for us. The Log Cabin was being renovated when we went, but we will definitely be back to check it out. When we walked the trails around the nature center we saw some pretty unusual insects and a family of deer grazing in a shady grove. The only thing we did not like about this place was the "Back 50." One of the guides told us it was "gorgeous". On the map there are some bodies of water marked in blue. Those bodies of water were actually green, fetid swamps. I think they used a more scientifically accurate term to describe the ecosystem but, basically it was a swamp. And a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Our kids all had mosquitoes swarming around them the whole time. If you're visiting in the spring/summer and haven't sprayed yourself thoroughly with some deep woods insect repellent, then skip the Back 50. If there was anything of note to see here, we missed it because we were trying to get out of there as fast as we could. Other than that, it was the perfect way to spend a late summer afternoon and...

This is a very beautiful place. However I recently went here on a field trip with my son's school. And we had different tour ladies show us a few neat things, but a lot of us adults notice how inpatient the women that worked there were from the moment they got on the bus to talk to the teachers, they gave them attitude... They also had ABSOLUTELY no patients with the kiddos, who were excited and curious, it was as if they even had to a breath they would scowled the kids. If they stepped to far from there liking they was say something to scare the kids. I don't think that is acceptable, maybe if they get annoyed with kids they should not work there. I wish someone in charge would notice it, because we absolutely DID. I would not be comfortable sending any of my other kids there on field trips if I am not there because those women there are BITTER AND HAVE NO PATIENTS FOR THE KIDS. I do have to say the one women in the blacksmith shop was a the nicest one and was absolutely wonderful with the kids she was a delight and...