Wheelchair-accessible car park
Yes
Forsyth Nature Center in Kingston
Categories
Location on the map
Kingston, Ulster County, New York, US
Accessibility
Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Yes
Amenities
Good for kids
Yes
Phone: +1 845-339-3053
Site: http://www.forsythnaturecenter.org/
Site: http://www.forsythnaturecenter.org/
Opening hours
- Monday:9AM–5PM
- Tuesday:9AM–5PM
- Wednesday:9AM–5PM
- Thursday:9AM–5PM
- Friday:9AM–5PM
- Saturday:9AM–5PM
- Sunday:9AM–5PM
Comments (199)
Great place to bring your family, It is open to the public for free. You can feed most of the animals, Bring some carrots and apples. There are benchs to enjoy time with family and or friends. This is a small Nature Center but worth it for the whole family from young to old.
Small but fun location to kill a few hours with the little ones. Decent amount of parking and a little zoo with interesting exhibits. Playground nearby with picnic and seating area, bathroom conveniently located next to the parking. Also near a baseball field and walking areas.
Nice little park based Nature Center for kids. Totally free but can donate. Grandkids and I spent a hour or so doing two rounds of checking all the animals.
Love Love Love this place an so do the kids plus u can feed the animals
Great Small zoo with cattle, birds, llamas, tortoises, peacocks etc. Bring change for the feed machines. Free admission, cute
Great place for children and adults! Bring vegetables to feed the animals (permissible) - apples, carrots and spinach are popular with the animals there.Love that the centre is free to visit - donations welcome. We are free to explore with freedom.
Great little place for an outing. Kids loved it
It exceeded my expectations! I was imagining a few animals and shoddy cages. But there was a good amount of well cared for animals, including reptiles, a cow, goats, birds, peacocks, and more. We brought food to feed them. The goats went crazy! I loved it. The kids really enjoyed being with nature.Its maintained well and wasnt crowded. We went on a Saturday afternoon.I truly enjoyed it and I want to express my appreciation for the hard workers who take care of the animals and keep the place in order. Thank you!
Small, but very well maintained park. The animals look well taken care of. Free admission just bring some money for donations. Carrots, popcorn, lettuce, greens and apples to feed the animals. My son had a great time! Great family day for a picinic and playground after visiting the animals.
Great spot for kids..playground and a zoo!
Bathrooms are closed right now, not sure if its for winter or covid.. playground is cute and great for male believe (play houses, etc). Our 3 year old loves visiting the nature center when he comes and seeing the animals. You can bring apples, lettuce, carrots to feed to some of them and its free with a suggested donation.
Nice quiet peaceful today was kingston de tour bike gathering
Combined with the lovley play park this makes for a solid few hours of entertainment.
Been going here since I was a kid(they had a bear there) now I bring my kids.constantly new things, great place
Great for kids if all ages!
Really cute little park..
Great place for a quick visit. Well maintained. The kids had fun!
This place should be shut down immediately!! The animals are poorly cared for, in small crowded exhibits with insufficient water and ventilation. When we visited it was over 80 degrees and almost none of the animals had any water. There were no staff present at the location, there were no covid safety precautions. For an Educational center it was sorely lacking in any information about the animals. DO NOT VISIT. Never left a nature center feeling so upset in my life.
Great place to take your kids theres a free zoo and a giant playground for them.
I took my sons for boo at the zoo they had fun together doing fun things and having popcorn together
My daughter enjoyed her experience with the animals.
A lot of interesting animals!
Childrens playground, petting zoo, nature trail and great tennis 🎾 courts.
Great family place park, animals lots of room for kids to run and have fun
Enjoy bringing my grand children to the Nature Center and letting them feed the goats, bull, and llamas. Well done!
Loved this place. Great petting zoo. Was fun feeding the animals.
Had a great time with my wife,her mother, and brother and our 2 week old daughter. Easy to maneuver a stroller through for the most part.Obviously cared for greatly, what an absolute treasure which should be given more funding undoubtedly.It is quite small, and is worth i believe much more space than currently available to them.
Wonderful community resource! Free to visit. Bring veggies and fruits to feed the animals. They have lamas, goats, a pig, really cool birds, reptiles. A bunch of stuff. You could probably see it all in 20-30 minutes.
Excellent small place with interesting animals ranging from a cow to goats and even peacocks. A nice playground for little kids too.
My grandchildren always want to come here when they visit us
Grandchildren had a blast there..
It was a really nice place but I didnt see when I looked at the website that you are supposed to bring veggies to feed the animals
So quaint but really nice. A lot to see. Bring baby carrots or carrot chips and lettuce to feed the animals.
Great little zoo to bring the kids to feed the animals..
A great place to take your family.
You know those beet and radish greens you never know what to do with? Bring them to feed the goats and they will love you, the llama too!
It was a great experience definitely a place to go with the kids and family
Great place for kids of all ages. But i absolutely love that there was a lot for my 2yr old. Very nice place
A small zoo with some exotic animals is worth seeing.
Nice place to see animals with your kids .....petting farm
Fabulous playground, with the bonus of a small nature center with animals you can feed (bring your own carrots, lettuce, or popcorn). Playground was pretty empty at 9:30am or so on a weekday, but packed (full parking lot) by 11. Even has a covered area with picnic tables, plus a bathroom (glorified portapotty, but still a bathroom).
Lovely mini zoo in town... for free. And seems like the animals are very well cared for. Shame its not a tad larger, but still great nonetheless.
Gorgeous park. Lots of fun things to do for the whole family. Basketball, tennis, park, track, green field and the cutest little animal zoo. The peacock song is always hilarious 😂
My wife and I took two of our grandkids to see the animals and play on the playground. Its safe and most important, our grandkids love it ! 😊
Great place for kids to discover there local animals, feeding animals area and playground is safe and clean.
Best Park for children and in a safe neighborhood around schools but always keep your eyes on kids because cars come and go and you might see a few drunks once in awhile
A surprising amount of exhibits. Informative and completely free. A nice excursion after playing at the nearby playground.
This place brings back great memories when I was a kid, my kids and I hope for grand kids soon .Always interesting and a little gem in Kingston.Small but perfect for little ones. They have a park and great playground and picnic area for the day.Great memories can be made here.
Awesome place for kids. Neat and clean. Id recommend this place to anyone looking to have a family day out.
Great little park with a zoo! A hidden gem in the Hudson Valley.
My 3 year old granddaughterives this place! Bring come carrots and and apple or 2, get to feed the animals, then over to the play ground!
Great neighborhood zoo and park, perfect for little ones and a break from the hustle of uptown. Covid protocols make it a very safe and enjoyable time. A+
Love to go here with friends/family. Great place to spend time.
Great place to take the kids bring food for the animals
Spotless clean. Sit down tables and chairs. The entire place was so clean. Animals well taken care of.
Wonderful time with grandkids. Perfect size to keep kids engaged without being overwhelming. Very well maintained
Nice little free nature center/ zoo. Wasnt expecting much when we headed there for a picnic lunch at the park (which has one pavilion but it was reserved) so we ate at the shaded tables at the nature center and then got to see all the animals. Kids loved it.
Great place! My daughter and I spent the morning there, we bought our own carrots, kettuce and bananas for the aninani to munch on. My daughter loves this petting zoo and we are going back tomorrow morning. We really love Franklin the yellow colored cow, as my dauggdau calls him...The playground is amazing and big and clean. You can eat there, plenty of tables with shade, you can BBQ there as well. It is a really really nice spot! Oh and it was free, just bring your own food for the animals to munch on. Apples, spinach, lettuce, carrots and unsalted/popcorn are all suggestions. EmjEn your visit!
Very nice park with divided areas for different ages. Parking could be better but the playground is amazing
I love this park because they have the animals for the kids and the Park is a nice place for the kids to play and have fun
The kids love the animals and playground.
Great place to take the kids. The zoo is fun for the kids. Love how the animals take food from your hands. The playground is cool.
Small great place for kids. Able to feed the animals too if you bring apples, carrots, pop,or, lettuce, etc.
Great place to have a good day with your family.
Love this place but once the nice weather hits good luck on parking not enough parking when you have a 1000 kids there
I love it here they always have fun events for the kids make sure to bring money! but free to enter. if its not an event then they have a great park for your kid to play.
Lovely small little zoo. Perfect size for my grandma to walk around
A great little park, playground, and nature center. Note the nature center is pretty small, you can definitely see things in about 20 mins. Good for the kids and a nice way to spend an afternoon
Good for little kids, the zoo is free.
Very disappointing. Some birds/foul, a cow, some turtles and goats and 2 rabbits that look neglected!!!
It was very nice. Animals looked healthy..My grandson and I had a wonderful time.
A wonderful treat. Next time well bring veggies for the animals
Nice place to visit with the kids
A wonderful little zoo! Small, but well kept. A great quick walk for the little ones.
Its nice especially for young children.
Really nice little zoo with birds and some animals. My 2 year old was mesmerized and we also loved it. The entry is free so please consider making donations.
Great place for the kids to enjoy and see some animals and you can feed them too
The playground is great, and the kids love feeding the animals. Tip: bring your own approved foods for the animals for a much better experience with feeding them. Approved foods include but are not limited to popcorn, lettuce, apples and carrots.
Great little nature center for kids!
I mean some of the animals have been in cages there whole life. But its still fun for the kids to see the birds and the turtles and the cow
A Unique place, Friendly animal displays without a Crowded get rushed feel.
Small zoo but well taken care of and fun for the whole family. Staff is very friendly.
This place is perfect for toddlers and kids hangout. Alpacas, cow, rabbits, snake, iguana, turtles, pheasants, chicks, rooster... a nice walk. Not dirty at all ! And free!!Thanks for offering these places to our kids!
Habitats too small for the animals; depressing
This place was so cute, you can just walk to the gates and the animals sometimes come to you. The goats were so friendly.
Great playground and cool little farm! Perfect free activity for the kids.
Great little nature center for children. Easy to walk around but part of it is bumpy for a non-jogging stroller. Now that we know, you can bring vegetables and fruits for the animals to eat, which my little guy loves!
A free, very cute little zoo. I have been bringing my kids here since they were babies. Sometimes they have nice little events for the community. It doesnt take more than 20 minutes to circle around all the animals unless you like to sit and interact with or watch them.
Nice place to hang out with kids. Theres a small zoo with no fee.
Nice place to take your grandkids.
Best little local Park and zoo!
Great little zoo. Small, but beautiful animals. Free admission, so come check out out. Check the website for hours, they change between winter/summer season.
Great playgrounds for toddlers and older kids with Animals you can visit and feed!
Love the animals up front and close! Playground was clean and well maintained.
Not bad for a small local zoo.
Small but nice zoo. Grandson enjoyed his visit.
I love this little zoo. Several different animals to visit and my son always loves getting to feed them. Franklin the cow is our personal favorite.
Great place to bring the kids. The playground is extensive and interactive. The zoo is fun, clean and the animals are well behaved
Very nice playground and a sweet little nature preserve where you can feed animals. Great for a two hour visit with small kids.
Nice park in Kingston, NY, has a small petting zoo , there is a play ground area for the kids and picnic tables, petting zoo is not very big but gets the kids interested and interactive.
Finally the kids are able to just be kids! Lots to do including feed the animals and explore the soccer fields and trials.
Beautiful flowers
It was a awesome day as always at Forsythe nature center.
Nice clean place. Animals are always clean and fed and very social
Its always a great place to bring your family. I have been going here for many many years
A cute little park but not very informative. They have plaques for the animals but they dont say what species they are. Wouldve been neat to know.
Good for the childrens , they have many animal and some área to play for the kids. You can give food for tve animal too.
One of the best playgrounds we have been to! Thank you Kingston! Big enough and varied enough for ages 2-12.We didn’t hit up the petting zoo and I learned they put a new water area as well.
A very nice playground for children and a small petting zoo.
For ages 1-4
One of the great places to bring your kids.
Nice park , hidden little gem in Kingston..
Love it.Marc DeDay has created a nature park that is absolutely beautiful design!Not only are the animals well cared for, the total area is wonderful.
Small collection of animals, intimate and accessible. Unfortunately we missed the pot bellied pig!
Beautiful relaxing.place for kids to play or read a book. Love the weeping willow in the back closer to Deitz. Also, the animals when open!
Its a beautiful place I will return for a nice day of relaxing
My kids love it here. Clean, can feed animals
There are many different animals for such a small zoo. The kids can feed, pet & watch the animals. It also has many spots where tired parents can sit but still keep an eye on young ones.
Small but cozy zoo. The kids love it and there is a big park here as well..great for a small outing thats adorable
Very nice time considered how the weather is this time of year. It was nice out only thing is the bathrooms werent open yet. Which should of been for the park was busy.
Our kids loved looking at the animals, and that there was a playground right nearby. No entry fee was nice, too.
Cute little nature center. Theres a nice playground and a covered pavilion for picnicking. The actual zoo part is relatively small but what do you expect? Had a great time at their Halloween event. It was very well organized and great free fun.
Grab a book, grab some carrots and come visit the animals and feed them and read in the parks reading nook. This place has a great environment for kids of all ages.
I use to work near here and would take my lunch to this park and eat while enjoying the nice summer breeze that would keep you right in that perfect temperature zone while you nod off for a nap after your lunch.
Great play ground beautiful an animals
A Kingston staple since forever. A recent visit found happy animals in a well-maintained environment
I use to bring my kids here a lot to feed the animals
Great little family fun place
Lovely little zoo; we stop by every time we visit Kingston.
My children loved feeding the animals!
Year round fun, good for all ages my 3 yo can spend an hour or two or breeze through in 10 minutes and the price is always right as its detonations......
Went with my 2 grandsons and we had a blast
Its fun, dont forget to bring 🥕 lettuce and unsalted popcorn for the animals!!
The playground is Fantastic. My kids loved it.
Zoo of local animals n you can feed themThere are signs that tell you what to feed which animals. You can ask the staff questions, they love to educate. There is a good playground, covered picnic tables a space for ball games n trails for you n your dog
I love Forsyth! So nicely taken care of and lots of space with lots to do. The only complaint I have is that by the kids playground theres a pavillion, and EVERY DAY theres a group of adults there listening to music with rather dubious lyrics and getting drunk/stoned. Eventually they will yell at each other, nasty stuff. I wouldnt mind if they were not doing that SUPER LOUDly and by a CHILDRENS playground.
Its small but it was a lovely little walk. Perfect for little kids.
Great place for kids to interact with nature.
Our sons favorite park!! And the zoo is amazing!!
Fantastic playground, beautiful open fields and a charming nature center with animals to pet! A greay, great way to soend an afternoon. No concessions, but a pavillion with picnic tables is available, as well as toilets.
The kids love it every time.
Good place to spend time with small children
Its a great neighborhood park and not too dirty!
Such sad, small enclosures for the animals.
Forsythe park
Its a very beautiful park with a small but free area where you can see various types of animals, many of which are local, but some are exotic like the peacocks. Something worth mentioning is that one of the peacocks is albino!
Nice place to take my great grandchildren. Theres swings and slides and theres animals to look at.
Nice park to enjoy animals.
Mostly farm type animals, small but very nice to visit especially with very young children.
Really good walking or hiking trail. 👍
A cute and free trip to see, pet and feed a small variety of animals.
We had a great visit!
Well maintained ,great place to take the kids
Loved it so much. And it was free
Forsyth Nature Center is a well kept animal center that has some amazing animals that are Being kept safe to observe and learn about
Good place to bring young kids.
It was AMAZING cutest zoo I have ever been to and Im definitely going again!!!I also got to pet Tulip the PIG!!!
Got watch the older boys play football & took the youngest to see the animals.
Everything my toddler needs is here, and nice people too
Nice place to swing with your girl after a very nice dinner
Great little park and zoo
My kids still love walking through here and they have been here to many times to count.
Always a good visit. It has improved so much over the years.
My family love the zoo and the park
Kids enjoy playing there
Great place for small children
The kids love feeding and seeing all the different types of animals
Great place to play Tennis. I wish there were more lighted courts.
Great park for the kids
Park looks great and fun for the kids.
We love Forsyth.fun place .clean .bathrooms available.playground.
So beautiful and kid friendly
Theyve been doing a ton of work recently on the animal enclosures and it really shows.
This is a great little petting zoo
Nice place to take the grandkids
I got to pet a cow! And a goat! But the alpaca wanted nothing to do with me. Oh well cant win em all
Nature walk is fun with little children.
Wonderful place to watch the kids play
Great place to take kids
Great place
Super time my favorite park
Fun park/playground for the kids
Very nice quiet and clean Park
Great place to take the kids!
Great petting zoo! It gets better and better.
Beautiful settings and friendly animals.
Small zoo is nice,playgrounds are very nice
Great place to kill time for free in Kingston. Animals are fun to watch (especially the peacocks) and there are shaded areas to sit. It does get very hot, so little ones might get cranky quickly. Upside is the nearby playground, with a lot of different themes and fun stuff. One of the more creative designs Ive seen.
A must visit in Kingston. Lovely, lovely place. Its inside of Forsyth Park and behind Deitz Stadium. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly. The animals are cared for and loved. A clean, safe place for kids to visit and learn about animals. Check out their special programs too, and they have a summer camp. Its also a wifi hotspot. Check the hours; they close at 1 on the weekends. Plan about an hour there, more if you go to the playground or the stadium.
Total reviews rating 4.7
199 Reviews for Forsyth Nature Center 2023:
Review №1
2022-06-05I am socializing my service dog. He did an amazing job today. He was able to safely observe other animals from the other side of the fences. With lots of treats an praise, he paid no attention to other people, walked amazing on the leash, even with all of the noises… and was non reactive to the animals. Thank you Forsyth park for the great experience. You played an extremely vital role today in socializing him. Having the conditions I have can be crippling and being able to bring my working dog here to learn and socialize, as well as learn good manners was really needed for training. Here are a few photos of him laying in front of the duck enclosure in the grass, as well as us up against the fence across from the Guinea hens. (We saw the Guinea hens on three separate occasions, the first two times they came up to the fence to get a better look at him and they were very quiet.. the third time not so much so we decided to keep walking as we didn’t want to cause distress.) we are responsible and respectful of the other animals that live here. A very nice young lady spoke to us to make sure the animals were not in distress ( which is why we moved from the hens) and we explained that our dog Hank is a service dog, he is still training but doing wonderful. It was super loud and she was kind of far away so I am hoping she didn’t think I was yelling at her 😂. Thank you to the public for not paying him any attention/trying to pet him and allowing me to work with my dog. At the end of the day he is my partner and not a pet. Everyone was so respectful.thank you , we will return again.
Review №2
2022-06-18Nice sized park with plenty of space to play and table/benches to eat. Theres a cool playground and a cool little zoo. Its just great. Parking is a bit tight but you can also park on the street. No fee to enter but donations are accepted. Highly recommend :)
Review №3
2022-01-02A great little spot to bring small kids. We all enjoyed it and its just up the road from an adorable playground.
Review №4
2022-06-11Loved this little hidden gem. It was also well cared for and so were the animals. The guy was working extremely hard by himself making sure the pens were cleaned and the animals had water and were fed.I will say bring carrots, lettuce, spinach and apples to feed the animals because I do wish I had known you are allowed to feed them. Also bring quarters so you can get grain as well to feed the animals.You can also bring your own lunch and a blanket to lay out on in the huge field they have to have a nice picnic or the have a small picnic area as well. I did not see if in the field there was grills but I doubt it.They also has a cute little free library set up were you can give a book take a book for free. Which I think is wonderful for children and even adults.The playground was also very nice since it is broken up into two age groups which is nice so that way you can have the bigger kids play on the bigger equipment without the little kids being at risk and vise versa.My son who is 2 had a absolute blast! We went around a few times. To see the pond with the fish and turtles. We lucked out and these nice ladies had to much lettuce and carrots so they gave it to my son so he was able to feed the goats and lamas.It is not a huge animal display you can walk it within 10 mins so dont expect it to be a huge display of animals. But you can male it fun and enjoy the day with a nice picnic and some running around in the playground or even out in the huge grassy field they have. Also walk around and see the animals again and again. Its a nice personal experience and you dont feel rushed. We had a great time here and it was a beautiful day. Just remember to bring those carrots, apple slices, lettuce and spinach for the animals and a bunch of quarters for the grain machine. This way it will be a bit more fun to interact with the animals.
Review №5
2022-06-15The ducks are kept in a small 2ftX2ft enclosure? Turtles are kept in enclosures small enough to not right for 1 turtle. Most animals just have a place for shade and that’s it. It was 80+ degrees and they did not have any water. No staff walking around, pens and tanks were dirty. Left disappointed. There are so many animal sanctuary’s you’re better off taking a tour of them instead.
Review №6
2021-07-31Great place to bring little ones. The animals are very gentle when fed by children.
Review №7
2020-09-21A small animal area, but a very nice playground. And lots of places to run around. For a free place, its very nice. We saw all the animals in about 20 minutes. Then played in the playground for an hour.
Review №8
2021-06-09Great place to visit with children.Tip: bring veggies and popcorn to feed the animals.Fun playground on the premise.
Review №9
2021-04-07Someone gave us popcorn and bread on their way out,so nice of them. The alpacas loved the bread ,the goats ate all the popcorn and were fighting over the bread.We had a fun time with the animals.
Review №10
2021-09-13Great place to bring your toddler for free, with animals to see ans the park to enjoy