Affordable Family Activities

Free Family Activities on Long Island

• Avalon Park & Preserve  200 Harbor Road Stony Brook, NY 11790 631-689-0619 Open all year long  Fee: Free                               Take a walk through beautiful fields of wildflowers and observe different wildlife. Don’t forget to bring some bread to feed the geese at the pond. The park is not stroller friendly.  

• Holtsville Ecology Center & Animal Preserve 249 Buckley Road Holtsville, NY 11742 631-758-9664 Hours: Monday-Friday: 9am-3pm; Weekends & Holidays: 10am-3pm. Closed Weekends January-March and Holidays. Fee: Free (There is a $5 parking fee per car).        Features an exercise-trail fitness course. A zoo and ecology center, featuring: buffalo, mountain lions, eagles, and a children’s petting zoo. Ecology exhibits and tours, free compost, greenhouses, and a picnic area. Contact for special events/programs.                                                                                                                                  
• Quogue Wildlife Refuge 3 Old Country Road Quogue, NY 11959 631-653-4771 Hours: Refuge Trails & Distressed Wildlife Complex are open every day from sunrise to sunset. Nature Center Building is open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday 11:00am – 4:00pm. Fee: Free                                                                                       The center is a 305-acre expanse of protected land with over seven miles of trails where you can explore a variety of habitats. The main trail is wheelchair and stroller friendly and all of the trails can be enjoyed in every season. There is also a Distressed Wildlife Complex which houses animals that have been injured and would not be able to survive in the wild.                                                                                                                                         
•  Suffolk County Farm & Education Center 350 Yaphank Avenue Yaphank, NY 11980 631-852-4600 Hours: Open Daily 9am-3pm (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas & Easter) Fee: Free, but you must sign-in at Visitor’s Center                                                                                 Visitors are able to see a century old working farm which still holds a tie to the past through the historic hay barn, while showcasing present-day agriculture. You can visit with the farm animals and even feed them with food purchased at the main desk.                                     
•  Sweetbriar Nature Center 62 Eckernkamp Drive Smithtown, NY 11787 631-979-6344 Hours: Office is open Monday-Friday 9am-4pm; Saturday & Sunday 12pm-4pm. Preserve is open Daily 8:30am -4:00pm. Vivarium is open daily 10am-4pm (In Season). Fee: Free, donations accepted. Butterfly House: $5 general admission; $3 seniors and children under 12.                                                                     Includes 54 acres, hiking with views of Nissequogue River and a butterfly house. Mock rain forest. Long Island Greenbelt Trail runs through the preserve. Wildlife rehabilitation with eagles, hawks, and owls.