It's a wonderful place where nature is nicely preserved. Place is also habitat to some of wildlife, we saw snake, deer and lot of different birds. We came to see Fall 🍁 colors here and it was very good. Along with red, green, yellow, brown leaves it has leaveless white trees which gave wonderful 💯😊 views. Park 🏞️ has lot of walking and hiking 🥾 trails. It has a visitor center where you can get all information, map, donation info etc here. They also have free magnifying 🔍 devices installed in various Lookup places to see various birds, insects and animals. Washrooms are present at regular places however they don't have water 💦 taps. Car 🚗 and vehicle under 5 ton are allowed to go inside 💠 the park. Parking 🅿️ spots are present in most of park areas. See pics and videos for more details. Thanks 👍😊

Well kept grounds and walkways. Lovely park ranger greeted us and she asked if we are familiar with the area or need some advice. Water was like a mirror until it’s started to hail.

I enjoyed a maple sugaring seminar at the Great Swamp refuge in one of their nature centers. The presenter had deep knowledge of the subject and I went away learning some very interesting things. It was hands on and very enjoyable even in the snow.

Nice quiet place to walk on wooden boardwalk paths. Bugs not an issue in early April will get bad later in the spring. Paths are level and not to long. Bathrooms are available.

Love this place and I bet it looks awesome in the spring! There is a little walking involved and not much of a wildlife perhaps due to the cold? There were a lot of birds. Not swampy due to the time of the year. Will say if you want to visit with kids and make them excited about animals or feed their curiosity a zoo may be easier to see but try coming to the swamp in spring or summer, there will be plenty to see then.

Gravel parking lot. Pretty busy on the weekends. The trails are paved and the hikes are very easy. There are a few observation decks and lookouts to enjoy the scenery. It would have been better if all the other hiking trails were connected as well.

Educational building with friendly staff. Air conditioner is strong and refreshing after walking in a hot humid day like today. Fully functioning bathroom inside.

Beautiful, well-maintained, and peaceful place!

Be warned, half the trails are beautiful manicured boardwalks and the other half are a trip through a swampy Hell on Earth. The Wildlife Observation Center is where you want to go and is located in the center of the Preserve. Wonderful trails that are easy to walk and see all sorts of wildlife. In the south east there are also trails. DO NOT HIKE them in the summer unless you want to walk through a swamp. Boots, long pants, long sleeves and a mosquito head net are REQUIRED. Also expect the trails to be over grown and muddy and also to be swarmed by flies and mosquitos no matter how much bug spray you use. I'm sure in off season the trails here may be wonderful, but in Summer it is a very unique experience to say the least.

Came here looking for the raptor trust but couldn't find it because the directions ended at the park entrance. I stopped off at the visitors center and the staff was very friendly and helpful. They have some great exhibits and a nice gift shop. The drive around the park was beautiful

Great place for a walk while enjoying the outdoors and wildlife. Watch out for lots of mosquitoes!

This best place but less advertised. Worth seeing if you are nearby.

Beautiful preserve full of natur feels like the rain forests. Stroller accessible. We came in early at around 10.00 and saw birds, small as well as huge 80 year old turtles , frogs, snakes. All kids ages 8-2 had a learning experience

Gorgeous place for a stroll. Paths are well marked and easy to traverse. Lots of standing water, though, so remember to use bug spray!

Great place to find your Zen. Has multitude of zones, if you want the sun or the shade. Had forts so you can look out onto nature without being noticed and decks to be able to sit and admire the big birds up above. It was ridiculously clean, don t think I even saw one piece of garbage on the ground. At the time I saw a bald eagle flying up above, so that made my day. Had no back benches to sit if you wanted. It's quit enough to bring a book and read. Everyone there was respectful and quit. Just a great place to go to escape from reality.

I went with my child on the weekend and it was great. The parking lot is good, especially the boardwalk, so it was good to take small children. The ecosystem was well preserved, and it was nice to have benches where you can sit and relax. The boardwalk was good, but the width of the boardwalk was not wide enough, so I met people often. Other than that, it was nice place. When I went, there was an inconvenience because the toilet was not open. It is a great place to walk and study with your child. Highly recommended

I love it here, it such a great place to really check out nature and my kids love it. I love the boardwalk because it allows me to bring the stroller for my toddler. It also has some information as you go along which my kids love to read! If your in need for some fresh air, a great scenic walk then head over here!!

Great bird watching experience although it is a tough winter day. Would've missed the red tailed hawk if not reminded by the refuge staff. Beautiful creature indeed. I would say the area close to the overlook has more active species. Also saw some hooded mergansers in the lake but they are too far to have a good picture of.

We only explored a few miles of The Great swamp wildlife refuge. The myersville road and another entrance I can't remember. Overall pretty good walk if you're looking for something easy flat and partly shaded.

Nice tranquil shady paths well marked within swampy area including boardwalk on some paths. Several other choices of easy walking paths as well. Beautiful photos to be had. Become a member and go two times, or get the discount at the store and it is well worth it! You don’t have to join). Go to Wilderness Observation Center to talk to very helpful staff.

Wow, what a wonderful tranquil place to take a hike to see nature and get away from the hussle of the city. There wasn't a soul around for miles.

This is the little museum part of the refuge, with an exhibition of the ecosystem of the swamp, on the side there’s a small trail to the Passaic river, we went there on a day of deer management time and the longer trails were closed.

Wonderful refuge with great trails and infrastructure. Great for birding and botany.

We saw turtles and small birds. Boardwalks are well maintained.

This place is huge. Walked a couple of the boardwalk paths. Saw lots of snakes, frogs, turtles, birds and a fox. I'll definitely be back!

Definitely bring bug spray lol this place is large there are different areas different locations for different things. So come early be prepared and go to the visitors center first to grab a map. Beware of rattlesnakes! I encountered one immediately, although it slithered away quickly and rattled in defense they are out there! It is beautiful 😍 but come prepared and with a backpack 🎒 with water as well to stay hydrated make it an adventurous day! I enjoyed it with my boys!

I love the experience, just what I needed to get away from it all, nice walks, friendly, staff, interesting things in the gift shop

Not the most dog friendly destination… and for good reason. I hoped for more opportunities to walk away from the road, but this area is a refuge for wildlife, so don’t expect it to cater to humans. Pit toilets at the entrance only and a gravel road. This place was packed with people on Christmas Day. Perhaps everyone got new binoculars and they wanted to try them out, but I wasn’t expecting the crowds.

Well kept grounds where the wildness of the swamp has been preserved. Lengthy boardwalk and observation area. The White Oak trail is well maintained only on the first half then becomes quite marshy and wet. The gentleman in the welcome center was warm, welcoming and knowledgeable. Be sure to check out his hummingbird feeder hat.

Beautiful area. They recently rebuilt a lot of the walkways from the observation center. I love the whole swampy area! It lives up to it's name. Plenty of birds. Don't forget to bring bug spray!!

A great place to know about wildlife of America. What is more interesting is the walking trail in the park. It is absolutely fantastic.

Nice place for a walk while looking at beautiful trees and wildlife around you. You might spot some rare turtles here.

This place is a total gem. Slated to be developed into an enormous airport, this National refuge is one of only a few in the state, and preserves an extensive space for wildlife to grow as it does and for the housing of many beloved birds and other animals. In the epicenter of suburbia, this place is indeed a refuge - if not only for animals and plants, for the human mind and soul. Thank you fof building these walkways 🙏 what a gift

Beautiful and peaceful! Winter was a good time to visit, the ground was frozen so very little mud to deal with. I was fine with regular hiking boots. The ivory and yellow trails were a bit neglected. Both had thorns growing into the path in a few areas and I had to clear a few tree branches blocking the path. In general, the trail markers were few and far between for me. I hiked for about 2 hours and I must have walked off the trail unknowingly about a dozen times. It was fine, just a little annoying to have to back track to the last trail marker.

Nice looped boardwalk.. Did not see much activity.

Very informative. Lots to see and touch. Classes for education are always in the works

Great Visitors Center for the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Information on the trails and sightings, well done educational displays, a gift shop and helpful staff. The native plant garden at the entrance is beautiful.

The refuge areas not by the visitors center need a little work high grass etc. Because of tick season i didnt go far. By the visitors center there was several really nice well maintained trails. Along the one they have signs for kids to look for things along the path. Theres a field in between to watch for butterlies. The other trail goes in a circle with plenty of nice benches in shady spots. Visiting center was closed. Large clean bathrooms open.bird feeding area behind visitors center was nice. Plenty of parking

Nice place for a light walk! Birding was good; lots of bird blinds, there are bald eagles by the river and a barred owl that frequents one of the trails out of the bluebird parking lot. To go to the overlook/the visitors center is a separate entrance and parking lot which wasn’t very fruitful in terms of hiking other than sitting at the overlook.