The 250-acre Palmyra Cove Nature Park was once a dredge spoil (the place where excess material from dredging was unloaded) and leaf dump. Now a thriving woodlands and wetlands featuring wide trails with beautiful riverside vistas, the park exemplifies the transformation of industrial brownfields into a natural destination in an urban setting.

The park’s Environmental Discovery Center (EDC), which is geared toward children, houses interactive displays about the wide array of plants, birds, and other wildlife to be found in the park, and about the historical importance of Palmyra Cove and the neighboring Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. The EDC regularly schedules naturalist-led family hikes and educational programs. Call ahead for details.

The wide, level trails lead from the EDC through woodlands, wetlands, fields, ponds, a tidal cove, and along the river. In spring and fall, you’ll see and hear the many birds that stop at these wild areas, which serve as important feeding areas during migration. Walk on Cove Trail along the tidal cove, next to the Pennsauken Creek, with scenic overlooks of shorebirds that feed on the mudflats in migration season. The short Beaver Pond Trail (linked from the Cove Trail via the Perimeter Trail) goes along the edge of a former sand mine that is now Beaver Pond; the pond does host beavers and you can observe them swimming to and from their lodge.

At low tide, you can walk along the banks of the river along Delaware River Trail, where you’ll be rewarded with views of the Philadelphia skyline and the bridge as it opens and closes to let big ships pass through. Peregrine falcons hang out on the bridge, feeding on birds that congregate along the shore. A “falcon cam” in the EDC provides a live, insider’s view of their nest.

Remember: No dogs or bikes are permitted.

At Cooper River Park, there’s much for the active family, including bike and hike trails and boating.

In Collingswood, Haddon Avenue has family-friendly dining.