The forty-foot, covered catamaran pontoon boat, with seating for 40 passengers plus crew, will enhance the Foundation’s environmental school field trip program as well as provide opportunities for hands-on learning to the general public, serving as an interactive learning center on Lake Hopatcong
The Lake Hopatcong Foundation Floating Classroom runs a series of public learning cruises in July and August. Onboard, guests enjoy a hands-on adventure, learning all about Lake Hopatcong, while taking part in experiments such as water clarity testing with Secchi disks and collecting and studying phytoplankton from lake water samples.
Trip fees are $18 for adults, $12 for children up to 17 years old, and $16 for seniors ages 65 and up. Activities will be geared toward guests who are at least 10 years old, but younger guests are welcome to come aboard and join the cruise.
All cruises on the Lake Hopatcong Foundation Floating Classroom are currently canceled for 2020, due to COVID-19.
The Floating Classroom serves as one component of our educational field trip program. In addition to the hands-on, educational experience in the floating classroom, students perform macroinvertebrate sampling in the Musconetcong River, take a discovery nature hike, and participate in an interactive EnviroScape watershed model demonstration.
The purchase of the floating classroom was made possible thanks to supporting from USA TODAY Network’s “A Community Thrives” program, the James P. Verhalen Family Foundation and the Szigethy family.
