3 overnight adventures

TENTS MOMENT Urban Park Rangers offer free overnights in four boroughs.

My two boys love the city—its tall buildings, museums and puppet shows. But they also enjoy being outside in the woods, where they can get really dirty and follow the paths of birds. My mission is to show them that city and nature cohabit—you don't have to drive miles from the concrete and glitter to watch wildlife. I've taken my kids on nature walks and canoeing trips in the five boroughs. We've even camped out.

Floyd Bennett Field

At the southern end of Brooklyn, where Flatbush Avenue meets the Marine Parkway Bridge, is a pristine overnight retreat that rivals anything outside the city. Forget about being sandwiched between RVs. Floyd Bennett Field offers two gorgeous sites for tent campers, both of which are grassy expanses surrounded by trees, trees and more trees. It's a slice of Eden in the big city and the only place in NYC where you can legally sleep under the stars on your own.

Last summer, I recruited five families to camp with us at FBF—the city's first municipal airport, which became a National Park in 1972—and we had a blast. After picking up our permits from the ranger station and setting up the tents, we dredged Jamaica Bay for minnows and stingless jellyfish, put the fish inside a goldfish bowl I'd brought from home and watched the kids marvel at these city sea creatures. Then we grilled hot dogs and burgers over the fire pit. Dusk was melting into night as the kids, feeling a rare sense of freedom, chased each other with flashlights. The only reminder of the big city came at bedtime, when planes bound for nearby JFK occasionally drowned out the sound of crickets.

We woke up to a soaking rain and had to ditch plans to explore the park's nature trail, which wends through marshland and uplands and is home to many species of birds. Instead, we visited an old hangar nearby, where a small group of volunteers, known as the Historic Aircraft Restoration Project, were lovingly restoring dozens of vintage airplanes. The kids were enamored of 78-year-old Bob Bender, who sat in the middle of the hangar, playing with rubber-band-fueled model airplanes that he'd made. Train enthusiasts and remote-control-car buffs, who race in the parking lot, also hang out at FBF. Each group claims a piece of the park, amid the fishermen, birders and campers.

Van Cortlandt Park

When I took my four-year-old son Caleb on his first camping trip, we pitched a tent not in the Adirondacks or the Catskills, but in the Bronx. We weren't alone. Other urban adventurers, many with kids, were vying for the best views. When the dust had settled, our back window looked out onto old trees and a 1748 fieldstone building, Van Cortlandt House. We saw the distant neon glow of Burger King on Broadway at 244th Street from the front of our tent.

The Urban Park Rangers started offering free family camping in city parks two years ago; they serve as guides and sentries in the urban wilderness. While there was no denying we were in NYC—we couldn't ignore the far-off traffic din and security floodlights—at times, our outing felt quite rustic. In the rangers' company, we explored the woods by day and by night, considered a few constellations and roasted sticky marshmallows over a roaring campfire.

Since the Van Cortlandt outing, I've joined the rangers on five overnights in four boroughs. They make camping easy for the uninitiated. Don't have a tent? No problem—they'll loan one to you and then help set it up. Don't want to pee in the woods? The campsites are near comfort stations. These really are adventures for urbanites. The rangers have even been known to do a morning run for bagels and coffee.

The Zoo

My nine-year-old niece and I recently went on a zoo overnight. We slept indoors at the Central Park Zoo; in the summers, the Bronx Zoo offers outdoor camping experiences (this year's are fully booked; to grab a spot for 2005, reserve in February). Both these wildlife camping programs begin with educational activities and offer the thrill of exploring a zoo by night: In Central Park, the kids made tropical crafts and learned about the rain forest; in the Bronx, campers go on an evening flashlight safari. The best part is having the zoo to yourselves after it has closed.

Later, in Central Park, we put the animals to bed by draping tarpaulins over the glass before climbing into our sleeping bags on the floor of an education building—one family inflated their queen-size air mattress and positioned it in the middle of the room, like an island. (The zoos don't provide sleeping bags or tents.)

In the morning, Bronx overnighters take a bird-spotting walk, but the Central Park zoo-keepers let us watch them prepare the animals' breakfast, after which we were fed bagels. At the sight of food, hungry birds flew out of every nook and cranny. My niece still talks about it.

The details

Floyd Bennett Field
Campsites are open year-round. For info, call 718-338-3799. Camping spots are a half-mile walk from the park entrance (take the 2 or 5 train to Flatbush Ave–Brooklyn College, then the Q35 bus to FBF). $50 for a three-night permit, by reservation.

Van Cortlandt Park
Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx; call for meeting place, dates and reservations (800-NYC-HAWK; www.nycgov.parks.org). FREE. Central Park and Bronx Zoos
• The Central Park Zoo's Snooze at the Zoo is offered three times between October and February. For info, call 212-459-6583. $160 per adult-child pair, by reservation.
• The Bronx Zoo's Family Overnight Safari is offered three times between May and September. This year's programs are full. To register for next summer, go to www.bronxzoo.com/bz-education in February 2005. $250 per adult-child pair.