Inwood Hill Park
The last native forests in Manhattan stand in Inwood Hill Park, at the northern tip of the island. In fact, of the parks 197 acres, more than 100 are lush woodlands and forests. One hundred year old native trees include red oaks and some of the largest tulip trees in the city, which measure 15 around and tower 90 feet above the forest floor. Walking through the woods, or meadows, you'll come upon the wildflowers for which the park is famous. Jack-in-the-pulpit, butterflyweed, drifts of day lilies, and long stretches of jewelweed appear unexpectedly.
In spring and fall, you'll find the woods alive with warblers migrating along the Atlantic flyway. In September, on days when the wind is right, broad wing hawks fill the sky over the Hudson. If you walk on the high ridge running along the park's western edge, you'll have majestic views of the Hudson- west to the Palisades, south to the George Washington Bridge, and north as far as the Tappan Zee. Lining the paths in this part of the park are blackberry, raspberry, black currant bushes.
The northern tip of the park overlooks the point where the Hudson and Harlem Rivers meet: Spuyten Duyvil, or "in spite of the devil", a Dutch description of the point's treacherous currents. At waters edge lies a saltmarsh, a refuge for a rich variety of waterfowl: mute swans, belted kingfishers, and all kinds of ducks, including mallards, canvasbacks buffleheads, redheads, and black ducks.
Here, on a late afternoon in autumn, you might see a great blue heron, standing motionless as it hunts for fish. Or, in early spring, you might find a snowy egret ruffling its elegant plumage in the warm April wind.
Directions
Take the 1 train to the 215th Street stop. Walk North to 218th Street. Take a left and walk on 218th Street. The entrance to the park is at the end of the street. The Nature Center is located in Inwood Park.
OR
Take the A train to 207th Street. If you are in the last car of the train (near the handicap elevator), proceed west to Seaman Avenue, then north to Isham Street. If you are in the first car of the train, you will exit onto Isham Street. Go west to Seaman Avenue and proceed north into the park, keeping the baseball field to your right. Walk toward the Water. The Nature Center is the building on the water.