Nature Preserves: Fresh Air, Flowers, Parks & Trails

The time is ripe for family outings in the great outdoors:

The New York Botanical Garden
200th Street and Kazimiroff Boulevard, Bronx
(718) 817-8700; www.nybg.org
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10am-6pm.
Price: Grounds admission: adults $6, Bronx residents $5, seniors $3, students with ID $2, children 2-12 $1, children under 2 FREE. FREE on Wednesdays and 10am-12pm on Saturdays. Additional admission for some attractions.
   The Everett Children’s Adventure Garden invites children ages 2-12 to enter an amazing world of mazes, larger-than-life flowers, and hands-on activities. There’s a Boulder Maze for climbing, a Touch Tank for getting up close with water-loving plants, and an indoor laboratory.

Wave Hill
West 249 Street, Bronx
(718) 549-3200; www.wavehill.org
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday. April 15-October 14, 9am-5:30pm; October 15-April 14, 9am-4:30pm. Open until 9pm on Wednesdays in June and July.
Prices: March-November: FREE all day Tuesday, Wednesday-Sunday adults $4, students and seniors 65+ $2, children under 6 and members FREE. FREE Saturdays, 9am-12pm and December, January, February.
   Wave Hill is a spectacular 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, and one of the most beautiful spots in New York City. Enjoy garden and conservatory tours every Sunday, as well as family art projects on the weekends.

Old Westbury Gardens
71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury
(516) 333-0048; www.oldwestburygardens.org
Hours: Wednesday-Monday, 10am-5pm.
Price: Adults $10, seniors $8, children 7-12 $5, children 6 and under FREE.
   Old Westbury Gardens is the former home of John S. Phipps, his wife, Margarita Grace Phipps, and their four children. Completed in 1906 by the English designer George A. Crawley, the magnificent Charles II-style mansion is nestled amid 160 acres of formal gardens, landscaped grounds, woodlands, ponds and lakes.  Westbury House is furnished with fine English antiques and decorative arts from the more than 50 years of the family’s residence.  There is a summer concert series.

Queens Botanical Garden
43-50 Main Street, Flushing
(718) 886-3800; www.queensbotanical.org
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 8am-4:30pm.
Price: FREE
   At Queens, the diversity of plants, along with the fruits, vegetables, herbs and roots sold at the gates, is symbolic of the diversity of the cultures and traditions that mingle not only at the garden but also in Queens. With sustainable practice at the heart of its mission, Queens Botanical Garden will complete its newest features this spring: a horticulture/maintenance building and visitor/administration building.

Staten Island Botanical Garden
1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island
(718) 273-8200; www.sibg.org
Hours: Monday-Sunday, dawn to dusk.
Price: Grounds FREE. NY Chinese Scholar Garden: adults $5, seniors, students, children and SIBG members $4. Connie Gretz’s Secret Garden, adults $2, FREE if accompanied by a child. Also FREE with NY Chinese Scholar Garden admission.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn
(718) 623-7200; www.bbg.org
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 8am-4:30pm. Weekends and holidays, 10am-4:30pm.
Price: Adults (16 and over) $5, seniors and students $3, children under 16 FREE. Tuesdays (March through mid-November) FREE; Saturdays 10am-noon FREE.
   Whether you’d rather stroll through Magnolia Plaza, where March blossoms are a telltale sign that spring is near, walk amongst 45,000 bluebells in Bluebell Wood, or admire the names inscribed on Celebrity Path, Brooklyn Botanical Garden is both visually stunning and rich in history, a worthwhile outing any time of year. In the Spring Children’s Garden, kids learn how to grow their own vegetables, such as peas, garlic, carrots, turnips, and salad greens. Classes also include craft-making and creative play. Summer Science Adventures offers children 7-12 a hands-on opportunity to explore the world of plants.

Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens at the University of Connecticut
151 Brookdale Road, Stamford
(203) 322-6971; www.Bartlett.arboretum.uconn.edu
Hours: 8:30am-sunset; Bartlett Visitors Center Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm.
Price: Suggested donation, adult $5.
   The Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens not only welcomes you to stroll its grounds every day of the year, but leashed pets are welcome as well. The Visitors Center includes a small gallery, plant clinic, and horticulture resource library. The total grounds comprise an astounding 91 acres, 15 of which are lawns and gardens.

Skylands Botanical Gardens
Ringwood State Park, Passaic
(973) 962-9534
   With the magnificent Skylands Manor as its backdrop, Skylands is a visual masterpiece complete with all kinds of the educational and preservation information for a truly rewarding experience. Nestled in the Ramapo Mountains, the vast gardens were once a private estate and now comprise over 4,000 acres within Ringwood State Park.

Lenoir Nature Preserve
19 Dudley Street, Yonkers
(914) 237-5791; www.westchestergov.com/Parks/NatureCenters05/LenoirPreserve.htm
Open 9am-4pm Wednesday-Saturday September-June, and Monday-Friday July-August.

The following locations are Urban Park Ranger Nature Centers run by the NYC Departments of Parks & Recreation. These are in-park community centers for public education, recreational activities and environmental studies. The centers serve as starting points for walking tours and workshop sites of educational programs for the whole family. Nature centers include exhibits highlighting the diversity of the landscape, and an abundance of informational written material including trail maps, nature center brochures, and Outdoors in NYC, the Rangers’ quarterly newspaper and calendar.

• Visitors Center at Fort Greene Park
(718) 722-3218
Open daily 9am-5pm.

• Prospect Park Nature Trails
(718) 965-8951
Open Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm