A perfect escape from the hustle of New York City, great options for your mind during this pandemic, you can visit with your close friends and family’s wearing your mask and practicing social distance and having memorable fun time. The park features overnight accommodation, site camping, a large play field, shaded picnic groves, lake and river fishing access, a swimming pool, Trailside Museums and Zoo, hiking, biking and cross-country ski trail and lots of historic attractions. My recommendations at summer: If possible visit during the week you could have the whole park to yourself 😉. You love to grill yes this is the right place to make those spicy summer grills. It’s a perfect place for camping make sure you contact the park. At Fall: The sight of fall foliage at this park is awesome make plans to go with cameras, tripods, drones, sunrise and sunsets pictures are mostly recommended. Winter: outdoor rink is opened to ice skaters from October through mid March. Make it a must on your outdoor bucket list.

Great walk anytime of the year. Especially enjoyed the Christmas decorations

Nice little museum and zoo. You need to trail a little to visit museum and zoo. Fun place for kids.

Lots of fun, stroller friendly! We enjoyed it even in the rain. It's a good mix of easy hike/walking trail and wildlife/zoo.

Really enjoyable trek to the zoo. It complemented the lakeside BBQ with the family. We discovered the huge pool, and at $5.00 per person, well worth it.

Visited during weekend, takes couple of minutes to pay and park. It’s a beautiful place with short trail and lake. The boat ride had a long queue and they ask you cash for deposit. There’s a ATM around. So much of kids attraction.

We enjoyed so much the walking!!! Is a very nice and peaceful place with a Lots of space to be and explore

Best place for a beautiful day out. It is connected to bear mountain state park, so that it’s a total package for a picnic and a whole day trip. We enjoyed the park and it was quite informative about the habitat of various species.

The sweetest zoo in the world! I love that they only take in orphaned or injured animals and give them great care. They recently paved all the pathways and built three new enclosures that will open in the spring (for a porcupine, bobcat and 3-legged fox). The views of the Hudson are incredible too! A perfect way to spend a day (and then explore the rest of Bear Mountain).

Fun and educational with great views. Majority of the exhibits were still open even though we went in winter. Cool little hikes on the sides too!

Enjoyed the zoo, opens at 1030 and closes at 430. Small zoo overall but my family was still able to enjoy about 45 minutes going through. Bear exhibit is first, followed by an indoor fish and reptile room (need masks), then the remainder is outdoors and mostly a variety of birds (bald eagle, hawks, turkey, etc..). There's also a coyote exhibit at the end.

Nice walk through, small zoo and learn about some US History. Trail has been repaved so it is a smooth walk.

Really delightful and lovely. It was the perfect sized zoo for young and old with a fabulous selection of animals.

We love this little zoo. The animals are all local animals who are injured or otherwise unable to live in the wild, so set your expectations accordingly. My 2 year old absolutely loves this zoo and it’s the perfect size for him. He is completely obsessed with the beaver and porcupine, and he also loves all of the birds. Zoo itself is free/donation based, but if you go on a weekend or public holiday you may need to pay for parking ($10/car).

Had a great time here. Very big park and a lot of history and nice place to paddle boat. Has a very high pool and the zoo is very nice mad has really cool animals there.

Nice state park with free zoo and museums with $10 vehicle parking, free if you have a valid Empire Pass.

Bear Mountain Trailside Museum and Zoo is a Hudson Valley treasure! It's undeniably one of our go-to destinations, offering a delightful blend of education and natural beauty. The array of educational exhibits, from Prehistoric times to Native American and early American history, is both fascinating and informative. What truly sets this place apart is its dedication to wildlife conservation. The sight of native Hudson Valley animals, many of which have been rescued and given a new lease on life, is heartwarming. Strolling along the paved trail, you'll encounter these incredible creatures in a setting that feels just like their natural habitat. But that's not all; the views are breathtaking! Overlooking the majestic Hudson River and the iconic Bear Mountain Bridge, the scenery alone is worth the visit. It's a perfect spot for families, nature enthusiasts, and anyone seeking a slice of Hudson Valley history and the region's diverse wildlife.

Went on October 7th and there is good amount of fall foliage on the seven lakes drive, not peek fall but definitely more than in jersey. At the end went to bear mountain state park did not visit zoo as it was raining.

Awesome museums plus mini zoo with lots of surprise my son loves it!! Oh guys park your car 🚘 at bear mountain park parking lot and walk through trail to zoo nice walk with mini Tunnel

This is such a cute little zoo that is free. However, they only ask for a small donation of a minimum of $1.00. They don't have a lot of animals, but it has enough to keep small children interested. It is a nice place to pass through and visit before going to the lake.

Had a great time walking around and looking at the different local animal's that you would encounter around d bear mountain

Great zoo, with good ethics Quite large, great that is donation only so it's accessible to everyone!

Did a little day trip here on a Saturday in late November. Got to see a couple different animals, plus the reptile section. Their bears are so cute! And the reptile section is small but still worth taking a look at. Grounds are very nicely kept and the lake is lovely. Great place just to get away from the city for a bit. Note: They have a few EV charging stations. You'll probably have a better shot grabbing one near the lodge, as the other parking lot literally only has one station with 2 slots.

Its very nice zoo, to walk and enjoy the view on the river .Also nice to see there our little friends. but last time there saw the goose with bleeding paw. The stuff member noted that it has arthritis, that is why it's bleeding. us much as i could see, the wound was deep enough. But honestly, poor bird just in need of medical help and warm environment for a little while, very easy solution here. just please help the goose. They need help, emotional and medical as much as humans.

This is a nice little museum & zoo my kids had a great time. I only had to pay for parking.

Great place to spend family time!

This place was horrible for a zoo. Beautiful for hiking/trail walking, but we saw 3 huge birds, (falcons maybe?) hanging dead from a string tied on a tree branch. It was SO disturbing, not just for us but for our young kids to see. When we saw the first one above the Turkey exhibit it was alarming and then we saw 2 more hanging above the bear exhibit. There were workers/attendants of the zoo there- how do you not see it and handle the situation?! Horrifying.

The trail is great. It’s a nice walk in nature. They have little exhibits throughout the trail with taxidermy animals which is pretty cool. But I have to give it a two because the conditions that the live animals are in are horrible. The cages are so tiny. The animals look miserable. The bald eagles cage in particular was just so sad to see. They’re big animals in these tiny cages. I happened to walk through the trail when a squall hit. I just can’t imagine that this bald eagle had no protection or anywhere to go had to endure this weather in his tiny cage. Awful.

Great place to take the family, and see the view.. the traffic going over the bridge is horrible but not a reflection on the zoo itself. Highly recommend.

The trails were fun, but we never got to the zoo because our GPS was trying to get us in the employee entrance. Once we found the actual guest entrance the road was full of cars and we just left. There are places to get drinks and some snacks but bringing your own would be better if you plan on having a picnic.

While the overall exhibit was beautiful, the history museums’ were very outdated. The verbiage used to discuss Native Americans was offensive at best. If anything, a disclaimer should be outside the exhibits if the intention of the museum is to protect the original display, while still being current with their information.