Trailside Nature & Science Center

Trailside Nature & Science Center is Union County’s Environmental Education Center, located in the Watchung Reservation, a 2,065-acre preserve containing woodlands, fields, lakes, streams and more than 13 miles of hiking trails.

This serene setting provides the perfect classroom to have fun while learning about the natural world. Renovated in September 2006, the Center houses 4,500 square feet of interactive, state-of-the art exhibits, including a towering 34-foot American beech tree exhibit that fills the building’s atrium.

This jewel, secluded in the Watchungs, also features classrooms that look out on the Reservation, a multipurpose room, a library, children’s discovery room and a 250-seat auditorium.

The National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Awards honor innovative, effective county government programs that strengthen services for residents.

Union County is one of only three counties in New Jersey to receive a NACo award in 2021. The Department of Parks and Recreation was recognized with a 2021 Achievement Award for the program “Bringing Nature and History to the Homebound and Disabled.”