This is a great place to spend the day. It has rained the day we went, so there were probably fewer people than usual. It was very pretty. I imagine that it is better in the late spring and summer.

To be clear, this review is just for the Robins Nature Center at Maymont. I LOVE the gardens and the grounds at Maymont, but we were very disappointed with the Robins Nature Center. I am not one to typically write a negative review either. We were visiting from out of town and researched places that were open right now during Covid in the Richmond area. Our real summer vacation trip was canceled as a result of the pandemic. The description on the website really gave the impression of a LARGE FACILITY. I thought it would be a place worth visiting with our teenager as he really enjoys aquariums and other nature centers weve visited in the past.The entry fee is $8 per person and theres not many exhibits. I am not sure how this was set up pre-covid, and I understand Covid has really changed things, but I felt their Covid system was really flawed. You had a ticketed time slot, and everyone that has that time all get let in at the same time. You are walking single file through the exhibits designed for kids. Kids dont think about social distancing and parents try to keep in line with their kids. Many of the exhibts have interactive touch screens, but who really wants to do that right now? If you dont mind and want to use the technology you feel like you are holding up the line behind you. I just really felt rushed through the short exhibit. Some tanks didnt have any information at all and it left you trying to figure out what was actually in the tank. One tank may have a frog, but what kind of frog was it? Your ticketed time slot allows for you to enjoy the exhibits for 45 min. but you will be through in about 20 mins.My experience may have been negatively impacted by Covid. I just felt $24 for admission for 2 adults and our teenage son seemed a bit much for the experience we had. The website described it as A 29,000-square-foot attraction, is the largest facility of its kind in central Virginia and holds close to 30,000 gallons of aquaria showcasing animals of the James River and Chesapeake Bay. I was expecting MUCH MORE from that description. The aquarium at the Bass Pro shop is more impressive than our experience here. Not sure if it is a typo, but the area we went through seemed A LOT SMALLER than even a 2900 square foot home. If it is a 29,000-square-foot attraction that must be including the bathrooms and any administrative parts of the building, not the actual exhibit youre paying to go through.I understand attempts to open and allow guest in during this difficult time are a challenge for everyone. I think a system of allowing in one family, then waiting anywhere from 10-15 mins ( or even 5-10 mins) and letting in the next family would have provided a better experience and allow the touch screens to be wiped down for the next guest and allow the guest some time to look at the animals and not feel like youre packed in like sardines at a time when were supposed to be being really careful about being in crowds and social distancing.

Inside is best suited for small kids. Now that the renovation is done, the new climbing tower is a big hit with our two & four year old. The inside stuff is definitely more tailored towards small kids with the beaver mound, climbing/crawling stuff.

Very relaxing place to spend an afternoon walking its many trails. Has some animals for viewing.

Im not sure exactly what words I would use to describe this place public park Mansion gathering spaces and just some beautiful spaces to walk around. there are so many different parts to this place its good to look ahead to know what exactly you want to check out. Highly recommended. I wish you lived around here to come back many many times.

Visited this park on May 2018. Beautiful, green, clean park. You can see farm animals, birds, wild cat, etc. It has a beautiful Japanese garden. My kids enjoyed the time there. They can play, run, roll down and enjoying ice cream over there!

It has been years since I have been here, and alot has changed, not sure if its because of covid, but the excitement of seeing the animals and different species was not there. The tour was very short and the owl and other attractions were gone. The animals outside looked sad and was trying to get back inside, so the didnt want to roam around in there habitat. Even after looking online at the gardens seeing the beauty of that, was not what I was expecting. I did enjoy lunch on the lawn with my family, I prepared a packed lunch. But thats all. What you see, is what you get, but not from online....

This is very well done indoor start to your Maymont estate tour. Expect a aquarium-like exhibit environment with child focused play ware and playground like settings in a very good usage of space.

There used to be a suggested donation, now theres a fee... $4 per adult $3 for children. The presentations left a little to be desired. We saw an otter being fed, a bobcat did some tricks and we actually got to see and touch a tiny alligator.I cant wait until everything blooms... Great exercise and beautiful grounds even if spring hasnt yet sprung.

One of the best parks Ive ever been to. Check out the Japan garden and Italian garden, also if youre into Marine biology check out the mini aquarium which is awesome, great scenery. Definitely my favorite park. Make sure u have 4-5 hours to check out every thing

Cute and informative building but small. The otter made it all worthwhile though.

Such a cute little place! The animals were awesome and surprising for what they had, very good for kids and adults alike.

Beautiful and inspiring place to visit. Although the place was smaller than I expected, my family had an amazing time here. The kids got to look at some cool animals like a baby alligator, a huge turtle, numerous fish, and some snakes. My personal favorite part of this location was the fact that they had a huge exhibit dedicated to seals. I highly recommend the Maymont Nature Center for you and your family if you’re looking for something fun to do with them.

The nature center just went under major renovations and opened up to members today. Nearly everything is different as far as the interactive learning but not in a good way. All the learning in this nature center requires that you interact with a clumsy touch screen system. Something as simple as signs identifying the animals and fish in the center has been removed which forces you to interact with a screen. The climbing tower is impressive but also really missed the mark. There is only a single entrance and exit which when you see it you will realize was a bad idea. My child had fun but I do not take them to a nature center for them to play on tablets. Maymont really had an opportunity to make something wonderful but really fell short.

One of our favorite places in Richmond. Its quiet, clean, beautiful landscape and some very cool animal rescues including two bald eagles and a bear! Who knew there were Bison in the heart of Richmond?

Beautiful renovation! The nature center has so many species to look at and explore. Its a great trip down the James.

We had a great day exploring the park. Enjoying as much time as I can with my little guy. So, my husband and I went as kindergarten chaperones.

My goodness where do I even start, I was absolutely amazed on how beautiful this place was. I randomly found it online and thought what the heck I’ll try it. And it blew my socks off my husband and I spent hours here we went to the farm the nature center walked the entire property saw the mansion and went through the gardens. And I didn’t want to leave it was so beautiful the Japanese garden was just breathtaking. And an incredible place for photo opportunities!

We love Maymont! The baby goats are absolutely adorable this time of year and the volunteers in the Otter house were friendly and super knowledgeable. We learned about snakes, fish, turtles, goats, and otters! Great place for a family or school visit.

Used to be an incredible nature stop in Richmond. So poorly maintained, not worth the time investment.

One of the best Japanese Garden Ive seen on the East Coast. Absolutely stunning!!!

The nature center itself is closed until April 2020. However, there are still several animals you can see outside walking around (fox, birds of prey, black bear) which was really nice. It seemed like a really great area to walk around overall and they have a farm animal section as well.

Amazing nature life

Great family fun. Loved every minute there. Will be returning soon.

Amazing trails, live animals and beautiful gardens.

Great for engagement photos! If you can get to the park when it isn’t busy this is the best place for engagement photos. Maymont is beautiful and worth a visit if you are in Richmond. The park is big so be prepared to walk. The Japanese Gardens in Maymont are very peaceful and great for picnics!

Nature center cost $10 total for us to get in. It was a good review of some local Virginia information. The park as a whole is gorgeous and great for a long walk and a picnic.

Great place to spend the day. Children of all ages will enjoy this. Beautiful and serene in the heart of Richmond.

Beautiful gardens and grounds, very impressed by the rapture walk, all the animals were alert and out posing on their perches waiting for their pictures to be taken

Beautiful trails to walk on and some pretty cool animals too. Goats were my favorite

Maymont is a fantastic oasis within Richmond. There are so many green spaces to play and to picnic, so many animals, an awesome nature center, plethora of activities and events as well as so much history! Any time of year is a great time to visit!

Lovely spot on a nice day! We could have spent all day here with so many things to see and do. Would go back again and again.

It was a beautiful Easter day to walk around this lovely park/garden/arboretum. Busy too! The waterfall is never not busy in the summer.

A good place to get away while staying in the city.

Had a wonderful time walking the trails and viewing the beautiful animals

Great place for kids.

Great mellow environment and great place to take your kids to learn and see animals

Was here for a wedding! Fabulous views. The grounds are immaculate. Everything was beautiful.

Great experience and fun had by all

It’s a beautiful place but so much is out of order. When an admission is charged, I think things should be operational. While I would expect an occasional breakdown, todays experience unfortunately demonstrated many broken or missing items.

Terrific location for the family to go. Has a party room for birthday parties plus the kids can watch animals like a Large Turtle, fish, snakes, starfish,and more learning habitats.

Great exhibit for your children and toddlers.

Incredible place to spend the day. Great animal exhibits, well maintained gardens, and pathways that are easy to navigate. Highly recommend a trip to walk or run around the property.

Love it it the kids really enjoyed their self

It was a great experience and i hope to go back with some more of my friends. Seems like a great place for people of all ages to enjoy.

Fun for small children.

I absolutely love walking in Maymont Park! Even in winter, its peaceful and beautiful.

This place lived up to its name. Within 10 minutes of arriving we saw a hundred buterflies floating over herbs and flowers. We spotted dozens of geese marching accross rolling hills of pasture and a beaver spees down a hill into his home in a tree hallow. We also watched a hawk swoop down and attack a grey squirrel before flying into a tree 20 feet from us. The place definitely lives up to its name.

Went on a fieldtrip here. Wonderful classroom education lesson and hands on experiences offered by nature center employees. Restrooms were plentiful and clean. Wish we had more time to spend inside the self guided exhibits! Great displays showing animals and plants indigenous to the James River Watershed. Very informative! Ample parking too.

My daughter loves the nature center and it keeps her busy much longer than I would have expected judging by its fairly small size. Check their schedule to catch animal demonstrations such as otter feeding time or meeting (and petting!!) an alligator.Plan to pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the grounds as well.

We were there for Garden glow. It was magical!

Well designed and fun nature center on the grounds of the Maymont Mansion. It has its own entrance and parking lot, just next to Byrd Park. You can get to the rest of the mansions attractions from there, but if all you want to do is visit the nature center, its own parking is your best bet. This place is a must see for home schoolers! There are public restrooms and free information, but to tour the nature center isnt free. Bonus tho: attend one of the animal seminars like Meet the Goats at the farm center next door, and admission to the nature center is included! Theyre about $8 for adults (less for kiddos) and well worth it.The nature center has information on geology and the hydrography of the James River with some nice hands on stuff designed with kids in mind but fun for adults too. There is an aquarium with exhibits from all reaches of the James from the headwaters all the way to the Bay... Including otters!You can make a fun afternoon of this part of Maymont alone or visit the whole thing... But bring comfy shoes and plan to spend a day. Maymont is huge! Hours are usually 10 to 5 but run until 7 on some special event days.

Great day trip

Even in the cold and semi-wet we still had a hood time. The animals were so clean it was like they were house pets.

Glow in the garden was gorgeous!! The bus ride was awesome!! Lol!!

There is a restriction on how many people can be in the nature center. We got here at 2. Have to wait until 4 to get in. That was a bummer. But hopefully the otters will be out when we get to go in!

Lovely grounds to walk/picnic.

I love this park

Small but awesome nature center with live fish, turtles, snakes, alligators, seahorses, river otters, and more. Its beautiful inside and very well arranged and presented. The staff are friendly. There is a discovery center with animal skeletons, pelts, shells, and hands-on activities in this nature center as well. Its also a great place to have a birthday, as you get a private room and full access to the discovery and nature centers. Worth the price of admission.

Beautiful! Nice place to enjoy the day

A very picturesque place. The mansion is awesome. The japanese garden is beautiful.Good for a photoshoot

Great experience! There for kindergarten field trip.

The flowers at Maymont are amazing!!

A wonderful place to take young children, to explore nature and feed the animals. Vending machines for snacks, a tea, juices and soda. Take change to buy feed for the animals. Very clean facility with helpful and caring staff.

Very cool place to take your kids. Or to take a loved one to hang out and get some ice cream take a walk. Just beautiful scenery. Staff is very nice. Animals are awesome to see. I would definitely go again and recommend it to anyone. Someplace that I would not mind working probably. Loved it

Cool collection of Virginia wildlife, focusing on fish, snakes, frogs, lizards and other water life. If you are attending with kids (especially young ones) you are the guide, so get excited! The nature center offers sessions about their animals on the weekend. Its a pretty cool experience, and the price is affordable.

We were here for a wedding reception. The staff was very nice. And the other was very playful.

This was a fun stop on our way through Richmond. The nature center while small was fun and well done. My kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Then we ran around the ponds to burn off energy before getting back into the car.

Maymont park is beautiful, I love the animals and the Japanese garden.

Nice place to visit if you want to get some no effort exercise and enjoy the sights as well, just throw on your exercise gear and sweat bands and youre ready to roll, You will definitely sweat. Also if you have little ones that you have a hard time getting to sleep you can take them for a walk around the park and up to the nature center when theyre open and I guarantee they will fall asleep.

Beautiful grounds, great place for an afternoon walk. Loved the gardens and waterfalls.

Very well taken care of and all the animals are healthy looking. Smells clean and you can tell it is highly cared for. Loved my time here.

Absolutely worth every minute meaning all of mAymont. Enjoyed it immensely and want to go back

Even though a third of the lights were out due to a generator malfunction, it was beautiful! Hopefully this will become an annual event

Such a beautiful peaceful place to escape to!

Very relaxing walk

My grandsons are 16 & 4 and BOTH really enjoyed our trip to the center today. I was hoping for an aquarium of sorts, but there were SO many hands on things to see and touch that they were fascinated. Explanations of each display were short and to the point. Staff very friendly, especially in the Discovery room where there were more educational things like fossils, and things to play with. I wish Maymont would finish the construction as its been a long time since it started and its very obtrusive. They need bigger signs for directions. Im 60 and didnt want to walk from the kids petting center where I parked to get to the nature center. They need someone ther in the parking lot to make sure people are driving to the right entrance. The petting zoo only had adorable baby goats to pet. Inside all the empty cages looked sad. Only 2piglets and some chickens. But the $4 charge was VERY fair to enter the nature center. There did, however we to be more office spaces than rooms of display. All in all, the kids had a great time.

One of my favorite places to go in Richmond!

Love the nature center. World wildlife day today. Lots of hands on things for kids. There is a cost for the nature center portion but goes to a good cause and you can get a yearly membership that gets you in for free plus lots of other perks through the year with events and camps for kids.

We had a birthday party here for our 3 yo and it was fantastic. The party space itself was pretty bare, but easy to decorate ourselves. Part of the experience was admission to the nature center for all party guests and it was fun for adults and kids alike. Also, if youre considering a party, splurge for the animal encounter. Everyone loved being able to touch the alligator!

I always enter through the Shields Drive entrance -- theres plenty of off-street parking available and, to me, has always felt like the most centrally located entrance. The Italian and Japanese gardens are beautiful (great photo ops for all occasions -- senior pics, engagement photos, heavily liked Instas... ok, I kid about the last one but I cant imagine it would hurt!). The bamboo forest was always my favorite as a kid and they lead to a lovely waterfall. Maymont has a suggested donation of $5 for entrance but nothing is required and its honor system only.

We got to hang out with the otter! He swam right up to the window and checked us out. When he was bored with us, we went over to visit turtles, fish, and some cute little alligators. Super fun time. If youve got kids, they have an awesome room full of toys, books, educational kits, a little clubhouse play fort thing, and a sorry friendly, knowledgeable staff member hanging out to answer all your questions.

Great place for the kiddos to learn and get out some energy ️

Loved the place! Only thought that the mini zoo needed help.

Well organized, nice variety of animals, good concessions and amenites, reasonable entry fees! Granddaughter loved it!!!

Great spot to me one of the best in Richmond specially for kids almost a hundred acres of paths, beautiful Flora and amazing Japanese garden a super beautiful Italian Garden with the Beautiful stone water fountain. Word of advice if the weather is iffy definitely walk around the park check out the animals, the mansion, the garden that way if it starts raining you can still do the Nature Center because its indoors. This is my third time there and I will keep going. This place is so Zen and full of History.

Had so much fun with my family. So beautiful

This was an unexpected surprise that all my children thoroughly enjoyed. Just like the best parts of a zoo according to my oldest. I would love to have been able to give it a five star review, but not all parts of the place outside were easy to get to with a stroller. Even though there are paths, the steepness of them can be hard to navigate with wheels. Furthermore, some paths are beautiful and full of stones, roots and rocks that wheels can snag on. Definitely need to have a good pair of shoes, a sturdy stroller if bringing little ones and something cool to drink if taking a nature walk.

Went to the owl and flying squirrel live exhibit. Staff was very knowledgeable

Its educational and very pretty on the outside. Nice staff

Pretty darn cool!

Beautiful and informative. Great for the family or casual date A must see.

Wear your walking shoes

Beautiful grounds. Nature center, petting area, and very manicured gardens

Wonderful open public space! Highly recommended if in the area.

Awsome place! Great staff. Clean. Free. Nature center $4 per kid and its cool. Cant wait to come back on the spring when the waterfall is o.

This place is great! I have been many times and will continue to go. It is a very cheap and fun thing to do especially if you have kids. Its never been too crowded when we were there so we were able to look around at our own pace.

Love it.. Great scenery and adorable animals. great place for weddings. Or just to exercise.Kid friendly .. 5stars and recommended

My favorite park in Central Virginia. Beautiful, educational, and so much to explore. The wildlife center is super awesome.

My two year old loves it here! You could spend hours exploring if the weather is nice.