The Cape May Nature Center is owned & operated by the New Jersey Audubon Society and located in Cape May, New Jersey. It’s really easy to get to and offers FREE admission into the center and free out-front parking. If you love nature and/or bird watching, you’ll want to visit this family-friendly center!
Throughout the year they host various educational programs for the entire family to enjoy. Once you walk into the center you’ll be on the lower floor where you’ll find the gift shop with gifts & trinkets, award-winning artwork (some of it’s for sale), a small playroom for the kids and public restrooms that you can use. This is also where you’ll find their “live” honeybee display!
You’ll want to head upstairs to see the exhibits and displays where you’ll find a few aquariums housing snakes, turtles, etc. You’ll find animal hides, snake skins, seashells, coral, birding displays, etc. All of these exhibits & displays are to educate the public on conservation and/or to educate you about the coastal ecosystem.
They have a table set up where you can borrow a pair of binoculars and walk outside on their deck which runs around the entire second floor of their building. You can do a little bird watching, watch the boats go in and out of Cape May Harbor, look for things in their garden and so forth.
Next, you’ll want to take the small flight of stairs and head up to their observation deck (observation tower) where you can get some gorgeous views of the harbor, bay area and the surrounding area. Once done, make sure you return your borrowed pair of binoculars to the table.
Outside on their property you’ll find a flower garden with marked paths that you can walk through, some out-buildings where you can shop for garden plants and in one building they had a few more aquariums that housed a few turtles and a small octopus that visitors can see.
Overall, we spent a little over an hour exploring the New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Nature Center in Cape May, New Jersey. There are educational activities for the entire family to enjoy and we love that it’s 100% FREE to visit!
This Nature Center looks like a wonderful place to visit, both fun and educational.
I like that they have binoculars for you to watch the birds (and the boats). Would be a fun visit.
I enjoy visiting places like this.I have never been to Cape May, New Jersey but if we ever do this is on my to-do list!
This is so nice it is free! I love things like this, it really educates people just what types of wildlife is around if they are paying attention. I is nice you can use binoculars too to see if you ‘find’ any in the exhibits. It looks like it was well thought out. The honeybees are neat!
The Cape May Nature center sounds so interesting.. Love that they have Binoculars so you can Bird Watch and get closer views of the Boats and landscape. What a nice relaxing way to spend a wonderful hour or two. Thank You for sharing..
My dear mother loved Cape May and visited it several times. She often spoke of the beautiful birds and other wildlife, as well as the harbor. I wonder if she visited the Cape May Nature Center. I would love to see it for myself sometime.
I sure would enjoy visiting the nature center. I would be very interested in the bees and the butterflies.