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New Wooded Play Area Connects Kids to Nature Young children have found a natural place to play, a place that allows them to experience the wonders of nature with their full range of senses, and a place that allows their imaginations to roam and encourages exploration. Welcome to Nature Playce. Listen: Welcome to Hidden Oaks Nature Center Normal Hours Weekdays Normal Hours Weekends Winter Hours* Weekdays Winter Hours* Weekends 9-5, closed Tuesdays 12-5 11-4, closed Tuesdays 11-4 *Winter Hours = January, February, December Visit Hidden Oaks Nature Center's new exhibit, Urban Woodlands: Habitats and Havens and discover the amazing diversity of an urban woodland forest. While exploring this exhibit, families can investigate the different levels of the forest and meet a variety of amphibians and reptiles. Through interactive stations, a new children's corner, and hands on learning activities, parents and children alike will uncover the mysteries of life, from creatures that live underground to the treetop residents. Be sure to visit the indoor turtle pond! Set within 52 acre Annandale Community Park, Hidden Oaks Nature Center is located in the heart of Fairfax County, a few minutes inside the Capital Beltway. The woods surrounding the center feature an easy loop trail 1/3 mile long. Seasonal brochures enable visitors to discover the changing nature of the woodland at points along the trail. For further exploration, additional trails lead through the woods to two streams. Bird watching and photography are special pleasures in these quiet surroundings. The Park is rich in history. While strolling through the woods, visitors can view a railroad embankment built just before the Civil War. This railway, never completed, is part of the Virginia and National Historic Landmark Manassas Gap Railroad. Hidden Oaks Nature Center also serves as an information source for the public on local flora and fauna. Students are welcome to use the resource library for research projects.