River Center and Burt Reynolds Park

The River Center in Burt Reynolds Park is a very attractive nature center with aquarium exhibits. It takes less than an hour to explore but it is so lovely to visit! There are trees decorated with lights throughout, super-clean beautiful tanks with fish and amazing coral, and gorgeous wooden floors and paneling everywhere.

The staff are really friendly and will teach your little ones about sea cucumbers, sea urchins, a nine-armed sea star, a conch, and other creatures at the touch tank. There are also some interactive light-up exhibits on water usage, and an exhibit where kids can try to balance what flows in with what flows out using bean bags in wooden buckets on a scale.
Storytimes (Thurs 9:30am), various classes, and summer camps are offered for kids, as well as educational talks for adults. There is a nice gift shop with sea-themed toys and books about Jupiter's history.
Burt Reynolds Park is mostly used by boaters to access the water. Although it is surrounded by water, you can't see the water from much of it. There are cabbage palm trees dotted throughout, but nothing lush enough to provide shade. Kids enjoy the nice small playground with swings, padded with wood chips. The park area has nothing to make your heart soar. It looks much cuter on the map than it is, because it is on a little island.
The river center, however, is a lovely place to introduce your kids to nature and sciences relating to water usage.
For walking around outdoors, a nicer park nearby is Dubois Lagoon.

Directions

Burt Reynolds Park and the River Center are located at 805 N. US Hwy 1, Jupiter FL 33477, call (561) 743-7123.
When you see the fire station on the east side of Highway 1, turn into Burt Reynolds Park. There is a large sign at the driveway that reads "River Center." It is much easier to see when driving from the north than from the south for some reason. There is plenty of parking.
The River Center admission is a $2 donation.
Open June-August: Tues-Sat 9-4. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
Open Sept-May: Tues, Wed 12-5; Thurs-Sat 9-4. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Click on map for interactive view