Central Park Highlights Walk

Photo: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

Almost nothing you will see on this walk is natural. The lakes, meadows, rocky woods and winding paths of Central Park were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, whose Greensward Plan won a city competition in 1858, and built by thousands of workers who moved earth and rock on a staggering scale. The land was not empty, either: the city cleared Seneca Village, a community of Black property owners and immigrants, to make room.

This one-way walk covers about 3.5 kilometers on paved paths, with a few gentle hills, and takes around two and a half hours with stops. It starts at Grand Army Plaza, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, and ends at Belvedere Castle near 79th Street, a short walk from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. Public restrooms are scattered along the way. If you are also doing our Best of New York tour, this walk fills in the park in depth.

13 stops on this tour:

Grand Army Plaza - A Golden General

The Pond and Gapstow Bridge - The Classic View

Wollman Rink - Skating Under the Skyline

The Mall and Literary Walk - A Cathedral of Elms

Bethesda Terrace - The Heart of the Park

Cherry Hill - A Rest Stop for Horses

Strawberry Fields - A Living Memorial

Bow Bridge - The Park's Romantic Span

The Ramble - A Wild Garden by Design

Turtle Pond - From Reservoir to Wildlife Haven

Delacorte Theater - Free Shakespeare Under the Stars

Seneca Village - The Community Under the Park

Belvedere Castle - The View From Vista Rock

Stops on this tour

1. Grand Army Plaza - A Golden General
2. The Pond and Gapstow Bridge - The Classic View
3. Wollman Rink - Skating Under the Skyline
4. The Mall and Literary Walk - A Cathedral of Elms
5. Bethesda Terrace - The Heart of the Park
6. Cherry Hill - A Rest Stop for Horses
7. Strawberry Fields - A Living Memorial
8. Bow Bridge - The Park's Romantic Span
9. The Ramble - A Wild Garden by Design
10. Turtle Pond - From Reservoir to Wildlife Haven
11. Delacorte Theater - Free Shakespeare Under the Stars
12. Seneca Village - The Community Under the Park
13. Belvedere Castle - The View From Vista Rock

More tours nearby

• Best of New York City in 24 Hours (1 mi) - The Big Apple in a day: skyline icons, world-class art, and unforgettable streets!
• Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (5 mi) - Ride the official ferry to Lady Liberty, then walk in the footsteps of 12 million immigrants on Ellis Island.
• Philadelphia Independence Walk (84 mi) - A walking loop through the square mile where the United States declared independence, wrote its Constitution and first governed itself.
• Gettysburg Battlefield Historic Tour (184 mi) - Where the Tide of the Civil War Turned

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