Alley Pond Environmental Center, Queens NY

Friendly park staff that are more than happy to share their knowledge of local plant and wildlife.

It's really just one room. If you have a young one, then spending ten minutes looking at the animals (and possibly petting a bearded dragon!) Would be a good thing. Hey, you can't beat free.

I have been going to the alley pond environmental center since my kids were young. They are renovating their main center on northern blvd. They have an additional environmental center right in the alley pond parking lot off Springfield blvd we think its wonderful.

We love APEC my kids have been taking classes here for the past 7yrs since we started homeschooling. It’s also a good place to go for a walk, look at their animals or just enjoy the outdoors.

It’s a non-profit with cool animals and many nice trails around you can walk. The people here are nice and it is so easy to get to with ample parking. Places like this are really important as it showd us the beauty of our natural surroundings even in an area that has been commercialized to a large extent. When you are a kid in the area you get taken here for school trips and it’s just a really nice place to learn about the importance of the wetlands and nature and it instills in you a curiosity that hopefully remains later on in life.

New space is huge and offers a lot of improvement to what APEC can offer. Hard to believe it's only temporary in this space but the same awesome staff and educators are still there running more programs than ever. Definitely recommend checking them out for a short visit, partaking in a children's class or asking them about having a party there. Can't wait to see the new permanent location when it's complete.

Took our local cub scouts for a hike here to meet some of their badge requirements. Staff was extremely helpful and excellent with the kids. Before the hike, they explained certain nature related terms and some animals (ei. Box turtle, rabbit, dove) that really got the kids excited. Great place!

Very cool place to learn about animals reptiles and the like. Took both my kids there for their kindergarten trips.separately because of different years. They loved it.

Loving knowledgeable people and powerful fun learning experiences with the animals and nature. Best for unforgettable birthday party.

My kids and their friends had an amazing time here. The staff was so kind and patient with each child providing a plethora of information.

The nature walk is so great! You forget that the concrete jungle lurks right beyond the canopy of trees. Just watch out for the poison ivy!

Grate place.had a bunch of fun with kids attending birthday party. Kids enjoyed animals and walk.

We had a great birthday party for our 6 year old at APEC. The instructors (both named Caitlin) were great with the kids. They did their craft (fox-noculars), went on a nature walk, played with 3 animals and then had food and cake. Everyone had a blast and it was very educational at the same time. This venue is highly recommended!

This place is a wonderful resource that we use often. Hiking trail, lots of educational classes, kids camp, knowledgable friendly staff. Really a great place!

This place have classes for little ones on the weekends. Nice activities to keep kids entertain and learning at same time!

Great short activity with the family, see various animals they keep in the little zoo, more like pets in aquarium tanks. The hiking trail is superb for toddlers.

Great place to take a class to on a trip yet personal enough for a day trip with your own kids.

Wonderful taking part in the APEC Hikers and Trail Crew program for adults. During longer daylight hours, there are weekly hikes, and there are monthly outings to explore natural surroundings and historic sites in the area.

Very nearby outdoors experience for city dwellers. Clean paths (just keep an eye out for poison ivy), ideal short hikes for the 6 and under set, friendly staff at a nature center featuring a decent variety of creatures and clean bathrooms.