Register for Summer Fun at Trailside: Registration Lottery Begins Feb. 12

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Department of Parks and Community Renewal are pleased to announce a new and exciting season of summer camps and family programs at Trailside Nature & Science Center in Mountainside.

"Trailside summer programs offer the perfect opportunity for adults and children to explore the outdoors while learning about nature,” said Freeholder Chairman Deborah Scanlon. “Each Trailside camp is filled with hands-on educational activities that encourage a child’s natural curiosity. Theme hikes, games and crafts are all part of the Trailside experience.”

Due to the popularity of Trailside’s summer programs, a lottery system will be used beginning Saturday, Feb. 12 and continuing through Friday, Feb. 25, or until all numbers are drawn. Union County residents may visit Trailside to draw a lottery number from noon – 5 p.m. daily. Proof of residency will be required to draw a number; only one number may be drawn per family/address. Registrants must pick their own lottery ticket for their family. Each registrant’s name, address, lottery number and arrival time will be recorded when the lottery number is chosen. The number drawn will indicate the registrant’s position on line and the time of arrival for registration day, scheduled for Saturday, March 5. 

Summer registration for County residents who have drawn a lottery ticket will begin at 8:00 a.m. on March 5. Registrants must bring their ticket to register and must be present when their number is called or their position in line will be forfeited. Ticket holders may only register their own family. If a registrant arrives after their number is called, but within their designated registration hour indicated on their lottery ticket, they may register at the end of the one-hour time block. If the registrant misses their one hour time block entirely, they may return at 4:30 p.m. No exceptions will be made.

Registration for out-of-county participants will begin Monday, March 7, from noon – 4:45 p.m.  Lottery tickets will not be required and registration will continue until all programs are filled.

Children, ages 4-5 can investigate popular topics like dinosaurs, Native Americans, turtles, birds, and kitchen chemistry in several half-day camp programs.

Half-day and full-day camps are offered to children entering the first through ninth grade. Children entering first and second grades will delight to travel “Around the World in Five Days” to learn about wildlife inhabiting five different continents, or they can find out about “Mythical Creatures of Fields and Forests.”  The “Junior Naturalist” program allows children entering the third and fourth grades an opportunity to learn about wetlands; while “Trailside Treks” will teach them to navigate hiking trails in the Watchung Reservation with a map and compass.

Visiting Sandy Hook to collect and identify ocean creatures is a highlight of the “Ocean Wonders” camp for children entering fifth and sixth grades.  Children entering seventh through ninth grades will have fun learning about various natural habitats in the Watchung Reservation in “Nature Treks.”