One moment
Forests
Alley Pond Park
A forest kept quiet · New York, United States
4.6★Rating
4,802Reviews
$Price level
Best April–June and late September–November; the southern trails go waist-high and tick-heavy in midsummerBest time
The experience
655 acres sitting on the terminal moraine the glacier left 15,000 years ago, which is why the park has seven kettle ponds — Alley, Cattail, Lily Pad, Little Alley, Muskrat, Turtle and Windmill. The northern 150 acres are freshwater and saltwater wetland; the southern half is woodland with six named hiking trails running from 0.7 to 2.2 miles. The Long Island Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway slice the park cleanly in two, and the Alley Pond Environmental Center, open since 1972, sits at the north end near Northern Boulevard.
The oldest and tallest living thing in New York City is hiding in here, unsignposted.
kettle pondsglacial morainethe tallest treenobody there
It's only worth the detour Best April–June and late September–November; the southern trails go waist-high and tick-heavy in midsummer. Turn up outside that window and you're looking at a different place; we'd rather say so than sell you the photo.
Where it is
New York, United States · Oakland Gardens and Bayside, Queens. Coordinates from the listing we sourced it from.
DirectionsWhat a membership adds.
Everything above is free: the name, the photo, the rating, the exact spot. What members get is the part you can't Google: the sourced insider tip for this place (what to order, when to go, what to skip), every day of your trips unlocked in full with the insider tip on every researched stop, and the concierge at full strength, answering with your own insider tips, no daily meter.
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