Visit Field Station: Dinosaurs In Their Overpeck Park Home

LEONIA, NJ — If you're looking for a way to spend these last few dog days of summer with your kids, look no further than Field Station: Dinosaurs.

Now in their new home at Overpeck County Park in Leonia, this new location is bigger and even better suited than Field Station's prior location in Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus (now the home of the Hudson County tech school).

The new lot in Overpeck is bigger and abuts the scenic Overpeck Creek. This means there are lots of meandering wooded paths along the river. Not only do these paths provide some much-welcome shade for adults, there are also lots of scary dinosaurs tucked behind every shaded corner. Expect little ones to jump out of their skin when they turn a corner and see a velociraptor or dilophosaurus nestled in the trees!

"Field Station is great," said Grissette Soto, a mom from Sussex County as she walked through the park with her 5-year-old son on a recent July afternoon. "It's only about an hour's drive away from us. A friend told me to go and check it out and said it's really good for kids. Prices aren't so bad, either."

Field Station: Dinosaurs is an affordable day of fun. It's $16.95 per person for a day-long entry pass, but you can also get twilight tickets for $12 if you want to enter the park in the last hour it opens. Field Station: Dinosaurs is open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. They are closed Mondays. There is a full-service cafe on site with food and drinks.

While there are plenty of roaring and moving dinosaurs in the park, Field Station offers so much more than that. They have a range of activities and work stations for kids, including Dinosaur Daycare, where children learn about and see dinosaur eggs, paleontologists' laboratory; the Mesozoic Midway; a Paleo Picasso creative arts tent and the dino dig fossil site, where kids are encouraged to use real tools and brushes to look for hidden dinosaur bones. These are all interactive tents and work stations set up, at which kids can play and explore — hands off and no parents needed.

For older kids, there are lectures such as "Real Dinosaurs vs. The Movies," where consultant Dino Don Lessem, who worked on Jurassic Park, will talk about his experiences and take questions from the audience.

One show that is absolutely not to miss is the "T-Rex Feeding Frenzy," performed several times throughout the day. Kids and adults alike screamed in daylight at this Broadway-caliber performance.

They also have a blacklight theater and new to their Leonia home is the Ikea birthday part tent. Field Station: Dinosaurs is a great place for birthday parties; the park will organize a full package of scheduled activities for youngsters. Also new this year is their "Dinosaurs After Dark" package, which will be offered in September and October. This features a campfire singalong and marshmallow roast, plus live shows and T-Rex games.

Field Station: Dinosaurs was a great way to spend a summer afternoon, but it will be even more of a treat in the autumn, which it's nice and cool to walk around. Either way, Field Station: Dinosaurs is a unique and affordable fun afternoon for the family.