Tenafly Nature Center — Attraction in Tenafly

We found about this place through many glowing reviews and decided to take the kids here to visit the Butterfly house on a Sunday afternoon. When we entered the visitor center, we were rudely ignored by the manager, Cal until an employee asked him to leave the office and he had to address us. We then made our way to the butterfly house where we patiently waited for the group inside to wrap up.

The rest of our group had not yet arrived but we were told we could enter the butterfly house separately from them and they would be able to join us when they arrived. So we enter the house and are taking a look around when the rest of the group arrived. They saw us in the house and promptly joined us by opening the door when Cal happened to be walking by and yelled at them for entering without permission (which we weren’t told we needed in order to enter). While in the house he had a conversation with his employee and made it very clear she wouldn’t have done her job wrong.

After a little while we exited the butterfly house and were wrapping up our belongings when Cal decides to approach us again and continue to remind us to follow the rules (which again, were never explained to us). When we had shared the rules were not shared with us, he rudely pointed to the sign and asked if we had read the rules there. At no point did he try to understand our side of the story, he simply stated he was hearing 2 conflicting stories between us ans his employees. We left the establishment very upset as the staff was rude and we honestly felt targeted due to the color of our skin.

Overall, I am extremely disappointed in the service we received at the Tenafly Nature Center and will never...

This review is for the Forest Preschool Program.

First off Amanda, the director and teacher is just exceptionally great! Forest Preschool has smaller class size of 5 students. Amanda is great at identifying each individual kid’s interests and helping them each grow their skills. The smaller class size also allowed all the kids to connect very closely at a personal level.

The outdoor setting is amazing for kids at that young age to cultivate creative, problem solving, and exploratory skills. They get exposure to a ton of stuff like tools( I’m talking hammer, peeler and more) while keeping safety in mind and taking instructions from Amanda. They also get to explore the animals, birds, plants and weather that the enormous Nature center offers.. I’m talking experiences like a snake eating a salamander, spotting 80 year old turtle in a pond, watching salamander eggs, week(s) long play and building tunnels in snow, endless splashing in puddles!! Some of these are once in a lifetime experiences for most people, at best !

I also noticed that my LO had a huge fondness and respect for nature, and preserving it and keeping it clean, after joining Forest Preschool. My LO also built stamina for long hikes due to the outdoor exposure everyday. Most importantly this helped my kid restore to nature for play or to spend time. I hope that continues.

I believe in strong foundations and I’m so grateful to have found Forest Preschool. This has been a great unconventional learning experience (especially during Covid times) and I highly...

I've known of this place for a years and have always wanted to visit but timing never worked out. I was finally able to make a trip with my son over the weekend. We arrived later in the day (4pm) on a Saturday and the parking lot was about half full. (Despite this we rarely saw or encountered other people) There are about 20-25 parking spaces in the lot. Upon leaving the lot we noticed that (as expected) the center was limited due to COVID. Many things such as the nature center itself and bathrooms were closed, understandably, for safety purposes. The trails were clearly labeled and very straight forward. There were lots of "one-way" signs ensuring that people don't or shouldn't cross paths while walking. You follow the trails which may lead you into another trail or back to the parking lot if you choose. There were clear signs all over the place so it is nearly impossible to get lost. I also noticed chairs at certain intersection which I assumed are manned during the busier times to encusre compliance with the rules. The center offers the typical nature/outdoors experience all while being very close to NYC. The view of the pond area is very nice. There were two birds (an owl and a hawk) in the enclosures. We also noticed two deer during our walk. "Admission" fees are $2 per person or $10 per family which can be given by a variety of ways including Venmo, Paypal and a CAsh Box. All of which are contactless. Overall we had a great time here. I would love to return post-COVID to check out the...