At the very northern tip of Manhattan, Inwood Hill Park offers something no other park on the island can: a walk through real, wild forest. The 196-acre park, cared for by NYC Parks, is home to the last natural forest and the last salt marsh in Manhattan, a green world of tall tulip trees, oaks and winding trails that feels wonderfully far from the city streets below.
The park rises on a high ridge about 200 feet above the Hudson River, and every climb is rewarded. From the overlooks, visitors take in sweeping views across the Hudson to the Palisades in New Jersey and north toward Spuyten Duyvil Creek. Down in the woods, the trails pass glacial rock formations, quiet caves once used as shelters long ago, and Shorakkopoch Rock, which marks a place of deep history for the Lenape people who lived here for centuries.
Autumn is an especially joyful time to go. The old-growth canopy turns gold and crimson, birdwatchers scan the sky and the salt marsh for hawks, herons and even bald eagles, and families spread out between the forest paths and the playgrounds and ballfields along the park’s edges. It is free, open every day, and easy to reach — just ride the A train to Inwood–207th Street and walk a few blocks west. For a happy, leafy escape without leaving Manhattan, Inwood Hill Park is hard to beat.
Photo: Tdorante10 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
