Most guides to Paramus in August start at the mall. That is the version written by people who visit. The version residents live is different, and it runs on a much tighter clock than a shopping trip.
There are two anchor parks inside the borough, and both are operating on a calendar that expires shortly. The Bergen County Zoo inside Van Saun is running its extended Wednesday hours only through August 26, and the Dunkerhook Area of Saddle River County Park is finishing its first full summer under a county-wide e-bike ban that has quietly changed who uses the path and when. If you live here, the next few weekends are the ones that matter.
The Wednesday Window Closes On August 26
The Bergen County Zoo sits inside Van Saun County Park at 216 Forest Avenue, and its standard summer hours run 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with last entry at 4:45 p.m. That is not the number that matters right now. The number that matters is the Wednesday extension: Late Nights at the Zoo run 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every Wednesday until August 26, with the last ticket sold at 7:45 p.m. After that Wednesday, the animals go back to a five o'clock day.
The pricing structure rewards you for living in the borough. Adult Bergen County resident admission is $6.00 versus $10.00 for out-of-county, and children ages 3 to 14 are $4.00 for residents against $7.00 out-of-county. Bergen County residents must show proof of residency at the gate to receive the in-county discount, so bring a license with a Paramus or nearby address. The train and carousel are separate from admission at $3.00 per person, per ride, sold only at the zoo ticket booth. If you have been meaning to take a grandparent or a visiting cousin, the Wednesday evening slot is the one that separates a zoo trip from a summer memory. It ends in three Wednesdays.
The Splash Pad Is Free, But It Has A Deadline Too
Van Saun's second draw for a Paramus family in August is not the zoo. It is the Harmony Playground splash pad, which sits outside the zoo gates and does not require a ticket. The water splash pad reopened after renovations to the safety flooring, water sprinklers, and control system, and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Labor Day. That is a six-hour daily window with no admission fee attached to it, and the calendar closes on September 1.
Pony rides returned to the park last year under new operators. The pony ride concession is now run by Ponies in the Park, LLC, riders must be at least 2, less than 50 inches tall, and under 90 pounds, hours are 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, and the cost is $5 per ride. Layer that against the Wednesday zoo hours and the picture gets sharper: Wednesdays in August are the day Van Saun was built to reward, with ponies until 6, splash pad until 4, and the zoo open until 8.
Dunkerhook Is The Other Half Of A Paramus Weekend
Paramus does not stop at Forest Avenue. The Dunkerhook Area of Saddle River County Park sits on Dunkerhook Road, accessible from Paramus Road or Century Road, and it is the piece of the county park system that most residents mean when they say "the trail." Spanning Paramus and Fair Lawn, the Dunkerhook Area sits at the southern edge of Easton Tower, a county historic site, and offers a picnic area, a pavilion with electric power by permit, three tennis courts, a playground, fishing in the Saddle River with a state license, and a waterfall.
The waterfall is the piece to understand. It is not a destination on its own, but it is the reason the northern loop of the path feels different from the southern loop. The paths run along both the Saddle River and Ho-Ho-Kus Brook, and the waterfall is where the two meet. If you walk from the Dunkerhook parking lot toward the falls in late August, you are hitting the shadiest stretch of the entire six-mile system at the hottest part of the year, which is not an accident of geography so much as an argument for why residents keep coming back.
Here is what actually sits inside the Dunkerhook Area, in plain terms:
- A paved multi-use path connecting north toward Glen Rock and Ridgewood and south under Route 4 toward Saddle Brook
- Easton Tower, a former gristmill site, at the Route 4 underpass
- Three tennis courts, a playground, and a picnic pavilion available by county permit
- Catch-and-release fishing in the Saddle River with a New Jersey state fishing license
- The small waterfall at the confluence of the Saddle River and Ho-Ho-Kus Brook
The E-Bike Rule Changed Who Uses The Path
Something material shifted on the bike path this year, and it is worth understanding before you assume the trail feels the way it did in 2023. E-bikes are no longer allowed anywhere in the Bergen County parks system, and a 10 mph speed limit now applies to the human-powered bikes that remain. On the Dunkerhook stretch, that has visibly slowed the pace of the weekday commuter crowd and pushed the demographic back toward walkers, joggers with strollers, and children on training wheels.
The trail itself is longer than most residents realize. Saddle River County Park is a 577-acre linear park meandering with the Saddle River, and its multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path travels roughly six miles from Ridgewood to Rochelle Park, running through Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Fair Lawn, Paramus, Saddle Brook, and Rochelle Park, passing the Historic Easton Tower at Route 4 and a scenic waterfall at Dunkerhook Park, with three ponds, tree-shaded picnic areas, pavilions, playgrounds, tennis courts, and athletic fields accessible along the way. From the Dunkerhook lot, you can head north to the Glen Rock pond or south under Route 4 in either direction on foot in under an hour.
Note: E-bikes are now prohibited in all Bergen County Trails including the Saddle River County Park Bike Path. A 10 mph speed limit is also now in place.
That posting sits at trailheads throughout the park now. Enforcement has been active enough that regulars have noticed. If you were considering an e-bike for the trail, this is the fact that changes the calculation.
A Realistic Late-August Weekend, Hour By Hour
The way these pieces actually assemble for a Paramus household is less complicated than the individual hours suggest. Wednesday is a zoo day. Weekend mornings are a Dunkerhook day. Saturday afternoons are a splash pad day if the temperature climbs. Here is what the operating windows look like side by side for the remainder of the season:
| Site | Hours | Cost | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen County Zoo, standard | 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. | $6 resident adult, $4 resident child | Year-round |
| Bergen County Zoo, Wednesday Late Nights | 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. | Same admission | Through Aug 26 |
| Harmony Playground splash pad | 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. | Free | Through Labor Day |
| Ponies in the Park, Van Saun | Varies by day, weekends 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | $5 per ride | Seasonal |
| Zoo train and carousel | Weather permitting | $3 per person, per ride | Seasonal |
| Dunkerhook Area, Saddle River County Park | Dawn to dusk | Free, pavilion by permit | Year-round |
What To Book, What To Skip
If you want the pavilion at Dunkerhook for a Labor Day weekend gathering, the county requires a permit and they book up. The pavilion with electric service is not walk-in on holiday weekends. If you want a fishing afternoon, the state license is the friction point, not the location. Fishing in the Saddle River at Dunkerhook requires a New Jersey state fishing license and the river holds enough sunfish and bass for a slow afternoon.
The zoo does not sell train and carousel tickets online. Train and carousel tickets are $3.00 per person, per ride, and tickets may only be purchased at the facility at the zoo ticket booth. Bring cash for those, even though the main gate accepts cards. And if you have a family member who has been meaning to see the zoo but avoids weekend crowds, the last three Wednesday evenings of August 12, 19, and 26 are the least-crowded hours of the year that the zoo is fully open.
Van Saun and Dunkerhook are the parts of Paramus that do not show up in a shopping guide. They are the reason the borough feels bigger than its zoning map suggests, and they are the reason August here does not have to end at a food court. The Wednesday clock and the Labor Day clock are running.
If you know your Paramus neighborhood well enough to have opinions about which end of Dunkerhook has better shade, and you are starting to think about what your next move in the borough looks like, Doreen Darquea knows this market at the street level. Reach out to The Doreen Realty Group when you are ready for a conversation about your home.
