Inwood Hill Park Hiking Trails
Home to the only forest on Manhattan Island, a hike through Inwood Hill Park takes you up close to American history, and even to the very formation of Manhattan Island. Take a step back in time and imagine Manhattan as a forest grove of tulip trees, oaks, and maples. Inwood Hill Park's marked scenic sites or historic highlights trail will lead you to the top of the hill, where the park’s oldest trees live.
Point of Interest
Download the Inwood Hill Park Trail Guide.
Points of Interest
The potholes were created by an eddy in the waters of the stream flowing beneath the melting ice of the Wisconsin glacier about 50,000 years ago, when pebbles and gravel in the receding water actually drilled through the rock. The location of these potholes marks a point where Inwood marble lies beneath mica schist.
The overlook is a wonderful place to view the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades to the west. During the summer, the small meadow is usually covered in wildflowers and wild grasses.
These giant slabs of schist were dropped in place by the Wisconsin glacier 50,000 years ago. Artifacts and remains of old campfires were found here, suggesting their use as temporary shelters by the members of the Lenape tribe who inhabited the area.
Shorakapok or Shorakkopoch Rock marks the area believed to be the site of the “selling” of Manhattan between Peter Minuit and the Native Americans. In 1938, NYC Parks moved the rock here from another area of the park to replace the 280-year-old tulip tree that stood on this site until its death in 1938.
Inwood Salt Marsh
The salt marsh at Inwood is Manhattan’s last salt marsh. The area of the soccer field was part of the original marsh, but was filled in when the subway was built in 1930. The marsh is brackish (a mixture of fresh and salt water), tidal, and home to a variety of animals such as mummichogs (small killfish that resemble minnows), mussels, snails, crabs, and a variety of waterfowl.
Inwood Hill Nature Center
Home of the Urban Park Rangers, the Nature Center opened in 1995 and houses a variety of exhibits including wildlife, history, geology, and much more. The peninsula the Nature Center is located on was originally attached to the Bronx, but was separated during the creation of the Harlem River Ship Canal, which was completed in 1895. Damaged in Superstorm Sandy, the Nature Center is currently closed for redesign and reconstruction.
See the Trails
Join our Urban Park Rangers on a video hike of the Inwood Hill Park, and see the trails for yourself!
Hiking in Inwood Hill Park with the Urban Park Rangers
Hiking in Inwood Hill Park with the Urban Park Rangers. On Manhattan's northern tip, the hiking trails of Inwood Hill Park will lead us through the last natural forest and salt marsh in Manhattan, and through thousands of years of human history.Posted by New York City Department of Parks & Recreation on Wednesday, September 7, 2016