452 New Providence Road, Mountainside, NJ. The Trailside Nature and Science Center is a hidden gem, free to everyone, located in Watchung Reservation, Trailside is a three level nature center with a Discovery Room in the lower level (where we took most of our pictures). I highly recommend visiting, as well as picking up literature on future events/classes. Above picture shows the 2nd level, where there is a cool little theater which shows a 7 minute movie, and also a little wigwam equipped with small benches to sit around a “campfire”.
Lower Level:
The lower level was a big hit with our boys, they had some turtles, frogs and fish.  Most of our time was spent in the Discovery room which is located opposite to the picture above. Here are some pictures:
Hours are daily from 12-5PM.
Side note: If you are in luck and the weather is nice, you can easily get to Watchung Reservation’s “The Loop” Playground (we posted this in the Outdoor playground section in Mountainside). It is one of the biggest I’ve seen, and will be including the link in our Best/Biggest section.  This area has so much to offer.
feeding baby in quiet part of center next to discovery room
We visited Trailside over the weekend and it was a huge hit with the kids. The bird observation windows really fascinated my girls. We saw a blue jay, a cardinal and a red bellied woodpecker (thanks to all the posters on the walls that helped us identify the birds). The games in the discovery room were also a source of fascination as well as the two children’s libraries – one in the discovery room and the one on the top floor. We will be back! Thanks for the tip!
Thank you so much for the tip. We had never been before, and we had a wonderful time. My girls loved it and they were so tuckered out they took a nap the whole way home. It is a great place to go and explore with kids.
[…] have now explored the trails with the whole family, our favorite being the one that goes from the Trailside Nature Center to the Loop Playground described below and pictured above. Also if you like to run, the Firecracker […]
very unhappy to think of the deer killing and other wildlife killing that goes on in this site. we need to protect and preserve and respect wildlife, not kill it. very bad mgt a this site imo.