Last updated: August 2026 | Englewood, NJ things to do guide
Bottom line: The best things to do in Englewood, NJ center on three anchors: bergenPAC at 30 North Van Brunt Street for live performance, Flat Rock Brook Nature Center at 443 Van Nostrand Avenue for 150 acres of trails, and the East Palisade Avenue and Van Brunt Street downtown for dining, bakeries, and the summer Night Market.
Written by Scott Selleck, Broker/Sales Associate with The Selleck Group at Keller Williams City Views Realty. Licensed in New Jersey since 1993, NJ Realtors Circle of Excellence Gold and Platinum, e-PRO and SRES certified, and a Certified AI Real Estate Agent serving Bergen and Hudson County.
Most Bergen County municipalities are boroughs with a commercial strip. Englewood is a city with a real downtown, and that single difference is what makes a Saturday here look nothing like a Saturday one town over. You can park once and spend the day. That is rare in this county.
This guide is part of my local insights series covering the towns I work across Bergen and Hudson County.
1. What Are the Best Things to Do in Englewood NJ on a Weekend?
Start downtown, then pick an outdoor anchor.
A standard Englewood weekend runs downtown in the morning for coffee and browsing along East Palisade Avenue and North Dean Street, Flat Rock Brook Nature Center in the afternoon, and dinner plus a show at bergenPAC at night. The whole loop covers less than two miles inside a city of roughly 3.1 square miles.
Englewood carries a Walk Score of 93, its highest tier. That score is concentrated around the Palisade Avenue and Van Brunt Street corridor rather than spread evenly across the city, so where you start your day matters.
2. What Is bergenPAC and Why Does It Anchor the Downtown?
The Bergen Performing Arts Center at 30 North Van Brunt Street is the cultural engine of the city.
It is a historic theater running a full calendar across concerts, comedy, touring acts, and family programming, and it operates a performing arts school alongside the venue. The room is small enough that the back of the house still feels close to the stage.
Practical notes that will save you time: metered parking sits across from the theater and in the municipal lots, meters are free after 6 p.m., and there is a multi-level garage at Dean Street and Palisade Avenue one block south. Do not park in the shopping center lot behind the theater. Cars get towed from it.
3. Where Can You Hike or Walk Trails in Englewood?
Flat Rock Brook Nature Center, at 443 Van Nostrand Avenue.
It is a 150-acre preserve on the western slope of the Palisades with 3.6 miles of self-guided trails leading to a cascading stream, wetlands, a pond, quarry cliffs, and meadows. The trails are free and open dawn to dusk, 365 days a year. The center was founded in 1973 by residents who organized to keep the land out of development, and it is one of the last remnants of the Palisades Forest.
Two things to know before you go. Some trail sections down to the brook are steep and rocky, so wear real shoes. And pets are not permitted anywhere in the preserve.
There is a raptor aviary with rehabilitated owls and hawks at the trailhead, which is the single most underrated free thing in this city.
4. What Is There to Do at MacKay Park?
Ice, fields, and the city's main recreation footprint.
MacKay Park sits at the north end of the downtown, and the Mackay Ice Rink at 2 to 10 North Van Brunt Street is the piece most people come for. Public skating, hockey, and lessons run through the winter season. Check the City of Englewood recreation calendar at cityofenglewood.org before you drive over, because rink hours shift by season and by program.
The park is also the closest green space to the theater district, which makes it the natural break between a downtown morning and an evening show.
5. Where Is the Best Dinner-Before-a-Show Stretch in Englewood?
East Palisade Avenue, inside a five-minute reach of bergenPAC.
The corridor is genuinely varied rather than one cuisine repeated. Fat Choy at 52 East Palisade Avenue has drawn national attention since it reopened here in 2023. Balthazar Bakery keeps the downtown in bread and pastry. The stretch runs from quick counter spots to full sit-down rooms, and the dinner-then-show pattern on Friday and Saturday nights is a real routine here, not a marketing line.
One tip from experience: book the table before you buy the tickets, not after. The corridor fills on show nights.
6. What Does the Englewood Public Library Run Beyond Lending Books?
Programming, most of it free.
The Englewood Public Library at 31 Engle Street runs summer reading for children, teens, and adults, plus book clubs, film screenings, and cultural events through the year. It is one of the more active community institutions in Bergen County and it is the answer to a rainy Saturday when the trails are out.
7. When Does the Englewood Night Market Take Over East Palisade Avenue?
Summer, and it closes the street.
The Englewood Night Market turns East Palisade Avenue into a pedestrian-only block party with food vendors, live entertainment, outdoor bars, local makers, and games. It has taken county recognition twice. Dates move year to year, so confirm the current schedule with the city before you plan around it.
If you have never been, go once. It is the clearest picture you will get of how this downtown actually functions.
8. Where Do You Go for Coffee, Bakeries, and Browsing Downtown?
North Dean Street and West Palisade Avenue.
The independent retail sits mostly on Dean Street and the western side of Palisade Avenue, mixed with salons, fitness studios, and long-running local shops. The Engle Shop has been operating downtown for over 50 years, which tells you something about the corridor's staying power.
This is the part of Englewood that people who only drive through on Route 4 never see.
9. How Do You Get to Englewood Without a Car?
By bus. There is no rail station here.
NJ Transit routes 166 and 178 both serve Englewood. The 166 runs a one-seat trip to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown with the widest daily span of any line serving the city. The 178 runs to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which connects by indoor tunnel to the 175th Street A train. Verify current schedules at njtransit.com before you build a plan around them.
The missing rail station is the single most common surprise for people arriving from a train town. I walked through every realistic option in the Englewood commute guide.
10. What Does All This Activity Mean If You Own a Home in Englewood?
It means location inside the city drives your number more than the citywide average does.
Englewood does not price as one market. Per NJMLS closed sales for the twelve months ending August 7, 2026, the city recorded 186 closings across all property types at a median sold price of $625,000, a median 26 days on market, and 58 percent of homes closing at or above asking price. Split by type, single-family homes ran a median of $750,000 at 26 days, and condominiums ran $436,250 at 32 days.
The average days on market over that same period was 48, nearly double the median of 26. That gap is the overpriced tail. Most of this market moved in under a month, and a small group of homes that missed on price sat past 90 days and pulled the average up.
Proximity to the downtown and the theater district is a real pricing input in this city, and a comparable sale from a different section of Englewood is not a reliable benchmark for your house. If you want the number for your street rather than the citywide figure, request a valuation and I will pull the actual comparable sales.
Englewood at a Glance
What you want | Where to go | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
Live performance | bergenPAC, 30 N. Van Brunt Street | Meters free after 6 p.m. |
Trails and quiet | Flat Rock Brook, 443 Van Nostrand Avenue | Free, dawn to dusk, no pets |
Ice and recreation | Mackay Ice Rink, 2-10 N. Van Brunt Street | Hours shift by season |
Dinner out | East Palisade Avenue corridor | Book before show nights |
Indoor programming | Englewood Public Library, 31 Engle Street | Most programs free |
Getting to Manhattan | NJ Transit 166 and 178 | No rail station in the city |
Why Englewood Sellers Choose Scott Selleck
Scott Selleck has been licensed in New Jersey since 1993 and has been advising Bergen County and Hudson County homeowners for more than thirty years. He is a Broker/Sales Associate and the founder of The Selleck Group at Keller Williams City Views Realty in Fort Lee.
Credentials: Broker/Sales Associate. e-PRO. SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist). Certified AI Real Estate Agent, KREM Institute of Technology.
Recognition: NJ Realtors Circle of Excellence, Gold and Platinum. The Selleck Group was named a Top 5 Producing Team of 2025 at Keller Williams City Views Realty. Featured in Grit Daily's Top Realtors in New Jersey for 2026 and in Apple News.
Track record: Licensed since 1993. 500+ transactions closed. Thirteen multifamily buildings closed. Seven years running his own brokerage on the Jersey City waterfront before rebuilding at Keller Williams. See what clients say.
Specialty: High-equity, long-term homeowners in Bergen and Hudson County, home selling services for downsizers, and the NJ to FL Transition Plan for owners considering Florida.
On Englewood specifically: Englewood sits three miles from my Fort Lee office and inside the core of my service area alongside Leonia, Teaneck, Englewood Cliffs, and Fort Lee. I track NJMLS closed sales for this city month over month and publish the commute and market guides that sit behind this post. When a seller here asks me what their house is worth, the answer comes from closings in their section of Englewood, not from the citywide median.
Scott Selleck's Equal Housing Opportunity policy
The Selleck Group vs a Typical Agent
Process step | The Selleck Group | A typical agent |
|---|---|---|
Pricing input | Comparable closings from your section of Englewood | Citywide median |
Days on market target | Priced for the first two weeks of buyer traffic | Priced to test, then reduce |
Market data source | NJMLS closed sales, dated and cited | Portal estimate |
Who answers the phone | Scott | An assistant or a team member |
Advice when the timing is wrong | Told directly, including do not sell | Listing taken anyway |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to do in Englewood NJ? Live performance at bergenPAC, hiking at Flat Rock Brook Nature Center, ice skating at Mackay Ice Rink, downtown dining along East Palisade Avenue, library programming at 31 Engle Street, and the Englewood Night Market in summer.
Is Englewood NJ walkable? The downtown is. Walk Score rates the city 93, and that score concentrates around the Palisade Avenue and Van Brunt Street corridor rather than across all 3.1 square miles.
Is Flat Rock Brook Nature Center free? Yes. The trails are free and open dawn to dusk, 365 days a year, and admission to the nature center is free with donations accepted. Pets are not permitted in the preserve.
How do you get from Englewood NJ to Manhattan? NJ Transit bus. Route 166 runs a one-seat trip to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and route 178 runs to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station. There is no rail station in Englewood.
What county is Englewood NJ in? Bergen County. Englewood sits in the southeastern corner of the county, bordered by Englewood Cliffs, Teaneck, Leonia, and Fort Lee.
One More Thing
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that "the present moment is the only moment available to us." That is a strange line to put in a guide about a New Jersey downtown, and it is also the entire point. The people who get the most out of Englewood are not the ones researching it. They are the ones who parked once on a Saturday and stayed.
Which of these would you actually do first, a show at bergenPAC, the trails at Flat Rock Brook, or a full afternoon downtown? Tell me in the comments.
If you are weighing whether Englewood fits your next move, the seven-question assessment takes about 90 seconds and matches your situation to a clear next step. When you want to talk it through, schedule 15 minutes here.
Looking at the area more broadly? Start with the New Jersey neighborhoods hub or search current Englewood listings. If your next move points south instead, I wrote about selling a Bergen County home and moving to Florida, and about how to price a Bergen County home this year.
Contact Scott Selleck
Scott Selleck The Selleck Group, Keller Williams City Views Realty 2200 Fletcher Avenue, Suite 502, Fort Lee, NJ 07024 Cell: (201) 970-3960 Office: (201) 592-8900 Email: [email protected] Website: SelleckSellsNJ.com Schedule a consultation: tidycal.com/slselleck Delphi AI Assistant: delphi.ai/scottselleck Seller Quiz: quiz.sellecksellsnj.com
Resources and Further Reading
- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Living
- Flat Rock Brook Nature Association, flatrockbrook.org, trail and preserve details
- City of Englewood, cityofenglewood.org, parks and recreation
- NJ Transit, njtransit.com, routes 166 and 178
- NJMLS closed sales, Englewood, August 8, 2025 through August 7, 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, Englewood population and household data
