After the Haunted Forest, the Tenafly Nature Center Runs on the Pond's Schedule

On Sunday, October 25, the parking lot at 313 Hudson Avenue will be closed. Cars will go downtown to the Borough Hall and Public Library lot at 100 Riveredge Road, and a free shuttle will carry families up the hill between 12:45 and 6:30 p.m. for the Tenafly Nature Center's Haunted Forest. The Center bills it as "One Night Only." It is also close to the last big public event of the Center's fall.

After that weekend, the Center's own published material shifts its attention. The calendar of programs gets thinner, and a different page takes over. That page is the Center's guide to what happens in the woods and on the pond in each half of November, and none of it requires a ticket. If you live in Tenafly, the second half of the season may be the better half.

What's Still on the October Calendar

The Tenafly Nature Center's seasonal programs page currently lists the following dated public events between now and the end of the month.

The calendar also carries recurring youth programs through October 29: Fall Family Forest School on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, plus Fall Afternoon Forest School. After that, the next dated listings are the Autumn Break Camp days on November 5 and 6, which start at 9:00 a.m.

The Center asks people to register even for free programs, and registration only counts once payment is complete. It also says programs can be canceled if too few people sign up. For the cider sessions, which run three times a day across two weekends, that warning works in both directions. A popular slot can fill up, and a quiet one could be dropped.

October 25, Planned Around the Parking Lot

The Haunted Forest is the one fall event where getting there takes more planning than the event itself. The Center describes the tours as "not scary." They introduce families to the forest as night comes on and include up-close encounters with owls, snakes and other nocturnal animals, followed by games, a themed craft, and refreshments around a campfire. The Haunted Forest page lists these rules for the day:

1. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. You reserve by clicking a time slot.
2. Plan to arrive 10 minutes before your slot to check in with your group.
3. Strollers aren't allowed, and children must be with an adult.
4. The program goes ahead in bad weather.
5. Members get a discount with their seasonal promo code.
6. The Center's lot is closed. Event parking is at 100 Riveredge Road, with a free shuttle from 12:45 to 6:30 p.m.
7. Some parking is available along Hudson Avenue, but the walk up to the Center is a steep incline.

The first tour starts at 1:00 p.m. and the last at 5:00 p.m., so the shuttle window covers the whole afternoon with some margin at each end. Families with toddlers may want the Riveredge Road shuttle over the Hudson Avenue hill, given the stroller rule.

The Second Calendar, the One Without Registration

The Center also keeps a field guide titled Autumn Natural Events, which breaks the season into two-week windows. Read next to the program calendar, it shows the woods getting more interesting just as the scheduled events wind down.

For the last two weeks of October, the guide says to listen for the "chimp - chimp" call of Winter Wrens moving along the boardwalk and through low bushes beside the trails. It also calls this a good time to look for migrating Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Brown Creepers, and to watch squirrels and chipmunks bury seeds for the winter.

The first two weeks of November bring a different set of signs:

• Witch-hazel. Its small, stringy yellow flowers usually show after the leaves drop and last into early December.
• Great Horned Owls. From now through December, they call from dusk to dawn as they stake out territories.
• Irregular visitors. Red-breasted Nuthatch, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin and Evening Grosbeak may turn up, and the guide points to the TNC feeders, the birch trees and the forest edges.

The last entry is the one this post is named for. In the guide's words:

"Water birds stay locally as long as the pond is ice-free. The 'dusk duck show' can last through the third week of November and beyond."

The pond sets this schedule, not a registration page. The duck show runs until the ice comes, which in some years will be the third week of November and in others later. Owls start calling at dusk, which in November comes earlier each week.

The Catch With Dusk

Here the two calendars run into each other. The Center's trails are open every day of the year, from one hour after sunrise until one hour before sunset. That means the "dusk duck show" and the owls' evening calling happen after the trails have closed. The closest a trail visitor gets to them is the last open hour on the pond, and closing time moves earlier through November as sunset does.

In practice, a late-autumn visit means arriving early in the afternoon, not after work. It is also a reason to keep an eye on weekend timing. The Center warns that its lot can fill early, especially on weekends, and suggests weekdays or early weekend visits.

The Rules That Catch People at the Trailhead

None of these rules changes with the season, but the trail map page lists them for anyone planning a first visit in a while:

• No dogs. Pets and bicycles aren't allowed, and the trails are set aside for passive recreation.
• Stay on the trails. Keep out of streams and ponds, and leave natural items where you find them.
• No fires without staff oversight, and no smoking, vaping, camping, hunting, trapping or fishing.
• Picnics only at the tables near the pavilion. Grills and cooking aren't allowed.
• A suggested trail donation. The Center asks $2 per person or $10 per family, payable in cash or by scanning QR codes for Venmo, PayPal, credit cards or Apple Pay.

The Center is a small nonprofit, and the donation is how it frames trail admission. A membership covers daily trail admission and adds member-only or discounted programs. The Haunted Forest member discount uses a seasonal promo code. The pages we reviewed don't mention any residency requirement for public trail access.

Finding Your Way Into Lost Brook

The November signs in the guide don't all sit near the Visitors' Center. The Center describes Lost Brook Preserve as protected, rugged hardwood forest, with winding trails, streams, footbridges, glacial boulders, and plenty of roots and rocks underfoot. Once the leaves are down and the light goes early, that terrain takes more care than it does in June.

The Center's interactive trail map helps here. You open it by scanning QR codes at the information kiosks or the Visitors' Center. It shows your location by GPS, lets you turn map icons on and off with a legend, can be printed, and includes a tool for reporting safety problems on the trail, such as erosion or downed branches. The trail map page adds an option to share it. After a windy November night, that reporting tool is how branches across a footbridge reach the people who clear them.

The map also takes away some of the guesswork about time. On a November afternoon when closing time is coming fast, the GPS dot shows how far you are from the lot.

Putting the Two Calendars Together

From here, the fall in Tenafly's woods runs in a clear order. There are cider sessions on October 18 and 24 and the Haunted Forest on October 25, followed by break camps on November 5 and 6. Then come witch-hazel and owls in early November, and the pond's water birds for as long as the ice holds off. The calendar is live, so check the seasonal programs page before you go, because new listings can appear and low-enrollment programs can be dropped.

Knowing the local calendar, like when the lot closes and when the pond is at its best, is part of how Tony J Lee approaches Tenafly. If you'd like to talk through what a year in this part of Bergen County actually looks like, from the Hudson Avenue trailheads to downtown, let's connect.