Cape Henlopen State Park
The Seaside Nature Center
The park's indoor room, on Cape Henlopen Drive. It is where you go when the weather turns, when you have small children, or when you want to know what is actually living in the water you have been swimming in.
What is inside
- A two-level touch tank with viewing windows, so you can see the animals from the side as well as from above.
- Five 1,000-gallon aquariums stocked with fish species that live off this cape — not tropical display fish, the actual local cast.
- Interactive exhibits explaining the park's different habitats, which is genuinely useful here because Cape Henlopen has several very different ones within a couple of miles.
- A gift shop.
The osprey camera. The center carries a live feed from an osprey nest in the park, provided by the Friends of Cape Henlopen, running through the nesting months from spring into late summer. If the birds are on the nest it is the best screen in the building.
What it does
The nature center is the hub for the park's naturalist programming — guided walks, talks, seining and other programs you can book, plus school and group field trips.
It also runs the park's bike-lending program, which is the single most underused thing at Cape Henlopen. The trails here are flat and paved or crushed stone, and walking or cycling into the park does not carry a vehicle entry charge.
The building was renovated and reopened to the public in April 2017.
Program schedules, seasonal opening days and any booking requirements change through the year. Check with Delaware State Parks before making the drive for a specific program.
How the park is laid out →
Where the nature center sits relative to everything else, and how far the trails run.
The campground →
If you are staying in the park, this is a short ride away.
When it is open
The nature centre is open all year, but the days change four times a season, which is easy to get wrong:
| 1 May – 14 June | Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
|---|---|
| 15 June – 7 September | Daily, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
| 8 September – 18 October | Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
| 1 November – 30 April | Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
The published schedule leaves a gap between 19 and 31 October with no days listed. That is a gap in the official listing rather than a closure we can confirm, so if you are planning a late-October visit, ring the park first on (302) 645-8983.
No admission charge is published for the nature centre anywhere in the Delaware State Parks fee schedule, which strongly suggests it is free once you are inside the park. We have not found that stated outright, so we are not going to claim it.
Borrow a bike, for nothing
The best-kept secret here: the nature centre lends bicycles free of charge, courtesy of the Friends of Cape Henlopen, during opening hours. The paved Bike Loop starts within sight of the door and runs 3.3 miles round the park. If you arrived on foot from the ferry, this is how you see the rest of the cape.
The centre also sits at the head of the Seaside Nature Trail, 0.7 miles of loose sand on the bay side, which is for walkers only.