We’re lucky enough to live in a lake community that offers a great summer camp for the kids. They’ve been doing archery, cooking, pioneering, and have been taken on some fun local field trips. One of their field trips was to the Botanical Gardens in the Skylands area of Northern New Jersey, which is only a few minutes driving distance from our house.
The kids came back with so many great stories about our visit that I wanted to see it for myself. So we found some free time on a Friday afternoon and made our way over to the gardens. I wasn’t expecting much more than a few beautiful lawns, but was taken by surprise when we walked into a nearly-private 90-acre wonderland.
We entered the gardens near the teensiest little hut that was apparently going to be used as one of the supplemental film locations for The Lord of the Rings.
Once we were inside the gardens, we discovered miles of manicured lawns….
…and fields of wildflowers.
We spent some time hanging out by this solitary tree, which we felt could use some company:
There were beautiful stone benches to give our legs a break…
And secret garden pathways once we started to explore again…
And of course there was endless wildlife. Birds, squirrels, and a bunny racing through a field. Too fast for me to get a shot, but firmly implanted in the kids memories, possibly forever.
We only scratched the surface of this hidden world, so much is still waiting to be discovered. Until next time…
And if anyone is considering a visit, it’s only about a 45-minute drive from Manhattan. Hope everyone had a wonderful week!
