Great Day Trips for kids
For us there is nothing like a day spent in nature. But last week we decided to take it one step further and spend a day in nature fossil hunting.
If you live in NJ or NY or perhaps you are coming to visit this is a day trip that is worth taking. I read about Big Brook Preserve about two years ago and cataloged it in my mind as a place maybe we would want to take the kids to. This year was the year we decided to make the 60 min trip down the shore. It is located in Colts Neck, NJ you can read all about it here at the Fossil Guys website, he also has a great identification sheet that we printed out and took along.
When you arrive there is a very small path that has been blazed, here we are on the path
Once you follow this path you will see smaller paths that lead to your right, when entering preserve, these paths all lead to the stream. We took the first stop and took a look in the stream, after a bit of searching we decided to explore the stream and walked in the water down stream till we found what we thought was the perfect spot.
This is where we found many fossils which we are still working on identifying. It was so incredibly serene there, I could not have imagined a more wonderful way to search for fossils, the sun gently shining on us sitting in crystal clear water that is rushing through your fingers helping you discover the fossils. Our children LOVED it. We are still hearing about how they can't believe we found our own fossils. We took the trip on a monday in september, this may have been why the Big Brook was empty, I'm not so sure it would have been so serene on a weekend. So if you are able to go during the week I would recommend it. If not the stream seems plenty big for you for be able to find your own nook.
Here are some tips If you are going with kids
1. Be sure to keep your shoes on. We all kept our "old sneakers" on in the water. There are bits of glass that can be found in the sand so it's best to be safe.
2. If you decide to walk in the stream like we did, be careful and be sure to go before the kids to test the water. There are parts of the stream that go from about 1 foot depth to about 3 feet depth suddenly, and sometimes the sand below feel like quick sand.
3. Bring your tick spray, there are ticks so be sure the use your spray and check everyone before you jump in the car.
4. Bring a change of clothing for everyone, it gets messy and wet. But that's the whole fun of it.
5. Bring food, because once you are there searching the kids will not want to leave.
