Squam Lakes Natural Science Center Reviews

Second time visiting. We really enjoyed seeing all the animals, learning about their life and walking around outside. Sometimes it's best to wait a minute and let the larger groups go pass

Beyond expectations! We had at least as much fun as our grandkids!

Beautiful place. Great place to spend a few hours or a day.

An excellent nature preserve and science center for all ages! I wen here with my girlfriend and had a terrific time seeing and learning about all of the animals.

Great place for kids and adults to learn about animals and nature.

Everyone is so nice and informative when you ask questions all the animals seem comfortable and happy ^^

Great science center. Plenty for the kids for the kids to learn, and the play area offered the perfect spot for a break for kids to blow off some energy. The trails are not stroller friendly, and the rest rooms are clean, and basic in offering the standard pull down changing table. Its not hard to get to, though it is about an hour and half from the Mass border. Worth the drive up.

A had a great time as did my 4 year old son. The dinosaur exhibit was awesome and I really emitted the walkthrough set up in a somewhat very natural setting. I'm normally not a big fan of caged wild animals but the broad variety of local wildlife they do have on exhibit were all injured in some way, shape, or form and wouldn't have survived had they not been rescued and prob wouldn't have survived had they been released back into the wild... So that was actual a small sigh of relief.

Really impressed by the expanse of the place, the variety of animals they have, and with the quality of their exhibits. A great place to spend a day in the Lakes Region.

SLC is a great place to spend a day or a half day with your kids and learn about the wildlife that New England has to offer.

Nice place. Very well laid out. Animals were very active. Great covid practices.

Excellent trip, all ages from 1 to 71 enjoyed themselves

We loved the live animal information sessions. Lots of great interactive activities and fun breaks for kids. The playhouse barn was a big hit.

Great fun for kids. COVID measures feel very safe.

Mountain Lions didn't feel like coming out but plenty of other things to see. Being that close to local wildlife as opposed to zoo animals from other countries was refreshing. Probably the closest I'll ever get to a black bear in my life I hope!

Awesome place to connect with nature. Kid friendly too.

Brand new Blue Heron School at the Squam Lake Science Center.

Admission is so cheap and this place is always well worth it! ALWAYS a fun day when we go to the Science Center! Pack a lunch and have a picnic!

Great space to learn about nature and the animals around us. Fun for kids and adults. Covid precautions are realistic.

This place is beautiful. Wonderful place to bring your kids to learn about NH wildlife. The trail is stroller friendly and not too long. All the animal habitats are well kept and lots of facts and information about the animals along the trail. There is also a playground for the kids to play on and picnic tables to eat at. They dont offer food here but easy to pack a lunch. We will definitely be back!

That place is awesome. Great for kids. Lots of animals to see, plenty of play areas for all ages and it's educational. I highly recommend it. Plus the walk is nice.

Great place to take the kids. Many animals and activities for the kids. They loved it!

Great place for the family or for adults lots of interesting animals

Pretty cool place to walk in natural setting with good walking trails and see animals.

The exhibits are enjoyable. The more recently renovated and constructed ones are interesting, while the older animal ones remain interesting for most children. Some of the animals look like they have zoochosis, something that is somewhat distressing.

great for kids, but i enjoyed my walk through ;) great trails behind the pond.

Had the best time, lots of great hands on for the kiddos. Learned a lot and it was awesome to see the smiles on the little ones face. Decent prices as well.

We went there on a weekday when it was not very busy, plenty of wild animals to see in nice habitats. We did not see any shows, and arrived too late to enjoy a pontoon boat ride that is not included in the entrance fee. There were not alot of people the day we went and the area was very clean. Easy walk to a local restaurant for a good sit down meal.

I love going here, it's fun no matter how young or old you are.

Cool place to learn and have fun with or without kids. Clean, nice little trail walk with animal exhibits.

Lots of animals to see and a good long hike on the site

The best local place for children. Loved the dinosaur live exhibit.

Great way to preserve affected animals while educating the public.

Great place to bring the kids, fun and educational!

Nice Scenic View... The natural environment with different creatures is soothing.
However, I think they are a little bit overpriced for non-members.

Expensive. Pretty much new england wildlife. At $20 a person for adults it was not quite worth the money. Its still neat seeing the likes of Bobcats, grey foxes, red foxes, whitetail deer, and bears. The rest is kinda meh.

Just an amazing place with regional animals to learn about.

Tons of hands on stuff for kids. Many native species on exhibit. The animal enclosures were in great shape with lots of growing plants. Most of the walking is flat or gently inclined and lots of it is paved too. We noted many gigantic old trees throughout the park. If you get there at the right time you can see live animal shows. A very peaceful and enjoyable day!

When on the trail and Cruise. It was a wonderful day for my 3yr old grandson

Great on both the educational and entertainment fronts. I was there with my wife and had to laugh at a handful of 10-year old kids yelling "Hey, you guys! Come up here, this is SO awesome!" We didn't have our kids with us, but I imagine it would be a great family afternoon outing.

Great place. Amazing new dinosaur exhibit and very fun playground.

Really fun. Squam Lake Nature.... has a most of new Hampshire's native animals and a lot you can learn about each one. There is a large outdoor playground meant to mimmick a squirrel's activities. As well as the playground, there are a few hands on equipment and playing structures for kids that teach about an animal's life. There is a big area set aside for eating in with picnic tables for individuals or large groups(schools or camps). If you want to get a souvenir there is a gift shop with things like books and stuffed animals.

One of our favorite places to spend a day with animals! Always something to learn. Been luck enough to watch them release animals back into the wild too!

Beautiful and educational! Love it here and will be back.

Amazing animals and birds in their natural habitat.

Great place to see and learn about NH animals. It was a bit buggy so pack bug spray

I was so impressed with the center! The staff does such a great job making the experience amazing for my family! We enjoyed the Bird show and my kids could not stop talking about how the bird flew over them! Cant wait to go back soon!

Great place to bring the little ones! They need more food choices though.

This place is really awesome. There are great guided walking trails that are stroller accessible. The wild animals are interesting and the staff is always friendly and helpful.

It is pretty darn expensive though, so if you plan on going more than once in a summer is worth your time and money to sign up for a membership.

The one draw back if you go with little kids is, if your little one has a meltdown or gets tired, there is no shortcut back to the entrance/exit. It's only a loop.

Animal park was fun, learned a lot about loons on the boat tour!

Overpriced for the experience. Several of the animals appears to be dealing with health issues.

They have an agenda and they try to push it on you and your children throughout the facility including in the bathrooms and at part of the deer population management game.

Great day
For kids

Very nice place for kids to walk, run, play, and learn in the warmer months when they are open. Feels more like a stroll through the woods with intermittent animal displays and play areas than a typical zoo. Has good educational sessions, excellent outdoor and indoor playgrounds, and a nice little hike off on one side.

Incredible place! We had an amazing time and are planning to return. There is so much to do and see! Fantastic place for the whole family.

I was able to visit the science center and take the Squam Lake cruise. Enjoyed both. Was able to see 5 Loons and even a couple of chicks!

Lots of fun and educational. Have gone here more times than I can count.

Amazing way to learn and be amazed with wildlife and very kid friends has a interactive play ground and told can learn while playing there

Excellent family experience. Very informative and interactive. There are a lot of animals present. Some, like the chipmunks, are very brave and will nearly walk up to you.

A great place to take the family, and learn about local wildlife.

Mostly kid-oriented. Lots of great nature facts and exhibits.

It was very educational, we took our 4 and 2.5 year old and it was a little over their heads. Better for those a little older.

This was way more than I was expecting. My kids are 2 and 4 and I expected to find a lot geared toward older kids. There was plenty of that, but also plenty to keep mine entertained. And there it's a Mountain Lion!

I visit the science center at least once a year. This is a great place to take the family and spend an afternoon.

Loved my visit here. Animals are well cared for, great old school exhibits. So many extra areas and playgrounds for kids. Nice shady walk and lots of extras to do in the area.

What a wonderful experience seeing animals in their habitats! Very knowledgeable staff! Loved the interaction!

This place is great for kids. Stroller & wagon friendly. We took our Veer and I saw others easily cruising around with strollers. The animal exhibit trail is crushed stone, but well compacted so use your best judgement about your particular stroller (a BOB would handle with ease, I am not so sure about Graco, etc.)

About the facility: I was very impressed. Having an undergraduate degree in environmental sciences and a focus in biology, I have seen my fair share of "environmental education centers" in the northeast. This tops any I have seen and I live across the street from conservation land that specializes in outdoor education. It is clear that a lot of time and money were put behind some very creative people. The exhibit presentation was absolutely lovely, the trail well-maintained (we just did the animal trail due to having two littles closing in on nap), overall very clean. The COVID requirements made sense (!) and everyone seemed very respectful of following them. Automatic hand sanitizer everywhere. I cannot say enough good things about this place!

Animals: I give every place that has captive animals 4 stars or less just on principle; however, this place was really clean, the animals seem well cared for (none of the animals appeared dirty or hungry), and their enclosures were representative of their natural surroundings given they are all native to New England.

Playground was open. Picnic area wasnt. Hand sanitizer at every station.

A nice family outing spot to learn and see a few animals found in the wild that you would normally miss if not really trying to find them.

Very nice Discover Squam Cruise. 90 minutes on a relaxing tour of Squam Lake.

Love it there ... Can't wait to go back again ... Need to take a trip without the kids sometime so I can read everything but definitely a great place for the whole family, very kids friendly

Fun place to go, rain or shine. Lots of interesting exhibits, friendly staff. A good take!

Great experience. It's a nice walk thru the woods with a wide variety of animals and exhibits. The Squam Lake Discovery cruise was terrific- highly recommend! Overall, we had a great time!

Great place to go with family and friends to go and see animals and it's really cool to see the animal's there because you don't see those types of animal's everday.

What a great way to spend the day and absolutely great for children. The animals are all native to New Hampshire.

Great place to take kids. Half way thru the very interactive nature trail is a great indoor and outdoor playground.

Meh, seeing animals that we encounter in our back yard regularly was not worth the $19 we paid for adults admission. The raptors in particular, looked rather depressed. Their areas were very small.

It is a great place to stroll through nature and learn about the animals. Enjoyable for adults and children. Definitely recommend to all.

Lots of wildlife to see and many exhibits for children of all ages to interact with. A great (and fun) "learning" center. There was a fantastic Dinosaur exhibit while we were there, and I hope you get to see it. We had a wonderful day's outing here!

I've been coming here with my son since he was a toddler. He's now 9 years old & still enjoys a visit. Every year there is something new to discover. My 1st grade nephew also had a blast.

We visited a few years ago but it was blazing hot with high humidity :-( Despite that, we were very impressed and always planned to return at a future point when the weather was more agreeable! The animals were well-cared for, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable and the trails/exhibits were wonderful. We couldn't even explore it all because it was too hot for us! So happy to say that we are vacationing in NH next week and cannot wait to return as the weather looks more reasonable for outdoor adventures!