Central Park, New York

Central Park is one of those places that make New York such a great place to live. The huge park, 341 hectare large (843 acres), is located in the center of Manhattan, New York City. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States as well as one of the most filmed locations in the world.

The park boasts several lakes, theaters, ice rinks, fountains, tennis courts, baseball fields, many playgrounds and other facilities. It is also home to the Central Park Zoo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Especially during the weekends, when cars are not allowed into the park, Central Park is a welcome oasis in this hectic city.

Top Attractions

Merchants' Gate

There are eighteen gated entrances to the park. Each of them has its own name. Several of these gates are ornate such as the Vanderbilt Gate, Engineers' Gate and in particular Merchants' Gate at Columbus Circle.

Central Park Zoo

Many people enter the via the Scholars' Gate at Grand Army Plaza, near Fifth Avenue, which leads to a nice pond with a beautiful stone bridge. More to the north is one of the park's most popular attractions: Central Park Zoo. The zoo has exhibits divided into several regions such as a tropic zone and polar circle. Some of its popular residents include polar bears, snow leopards, red pandas and penguins. Just north of the Central Park Zoo is the Tisch Children's Zoo, where small children can see and touch domestic animals.

Dairy

West of the Central Park Zoo is the Dairy, a Victorian style cottage created in 1870. The picturesque building houses a Visitor Center where you can get maps, guides, gifts, and information on events that are planned in Central Park. The Dairy is located at a former pasture, where cows grazed to provide fresh milk for the city's children, hence the name of the building.

Bethesda Terrace

The Mall, a wide boulevard lined with American elm trees, brings you from the Dairy to the Bethesda Terrace, one of Central Park's architectural highlights. The terrace has a central covered arcade flanked by two staircases that lead to a plaza. The focal point of the plaza is the Bethesda Fountain, installed here in 1873. The fountain's statue, Angel of the Waters, was created in 1842 by Emma Stebbins to commemorate the opening of the Croton water system, which for the first time provided New York with clean water. Bethesda Terrace overlooks The Lake and the Loeb Boathouse, where you can rent rowing boats or even a gondola.

Alice in Wonderland

Remote controlled model boat enthusiasts head to the Conservatory Water, a pond situated east of The Lake. There are two statues near the pond that are very popular with children. At the west side of the pond stands a statue of Hans Christian Andersen while a sculpture group of Alice in Wonderland and her friends can be found just north of the Conservatory Water. Children love to climb on the giant mushroom. Another famous statue in Central Park shows Balto, a Siberian Husky sled dog who in 1925 helped transport medicine across Alaska to deliver a serum necessary to stop a deadly outbreak of diphtheria.

Sheep Meadow and Great Lawn

Just west of the Mall is one of Central Park's largest open spaces: Sheep Meadow, an expansive pasture popular in summertime with sunbathers. The Great Lawn, more to the north and at the geographical center of Central Park, is even larger. The oval lawn, created in 1937, often plays host to free summer concerts.

Cleopatra's Needle

The most important monument in Central Park is Cleopatra's Needle, an authentic Egyptian obelisk, located east of the Great Lawn. The 20 meter tall granite obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis and later moved to Alexandria. In the mid-nineteenth century it was donated to the US as a gift from Egypt.

The obelisk stands near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's most important museums, with an enormous collection of artwork from all continents, covering a period from prehistory to today.

Strawberry Fields

Strawberry Fields is a memorial garden situated near the entrance to Central Park at W 72nd Street. It was created in honor of John Lennon, who was shot dead in front of the Dakota Apartments, where he lived. The tear-shaped garden was dedicated in 1985 as a garden of peace. It is named after a Beatles song written by John Lennon. Mosaic, Strawberry Fields, Central Park.

Bow Bridge and Ramble

There are many bridges in Central Park - each with a unique design. One of the most interesting is the 18 meter (60 ft) long cast-iron Bow Bridge, that spans The Lake between Cherry Hill near the Bethesda Terrace and the Ramble, a 15 hectare (38 acre) large woodland. Here Central Park is at its most natural, with narrow paths winding through thickets of trees. This is a popular place for bird-watching: the Ramble is on a trans-Atlantic migration route and more than 250 different bird species have been spotted here.

Belvedere Castle

Just north of the Ramble is the Belvedere Castle, situated at the highest point in the park. The castle was created in 1869 as a lookout tower after a design by Calvert Vaux. The tower overlooks Turtle Pond, named for the many turtles that live here.

Shakespeare Garden

Shakespeare Garden was created in 1913 as the Garden of the Heart. Three years later, on the 300th anniversary of the Shakespeare's death, it was dedicated to the famous play writer. The garden contains plants that were mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. Stairs connect the garden with the Swedish Cottage, a replica of a Swedish school from the nineteenth century. It was transported to Philadelphia on the occasion of the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 and it eventually ended up here in New York's Central Park.

Conservatory Garden

The upper part of Central Park is less visited and there are also less interesting sights. One major exception is the Conservatory Garden, the only garden in Central Park with a formal layout. It is divided into three sections: a central Italianate garden flanked by a French-style garden to the north and an English-style garden to the south. The gardens are adorned with several beautiful fountains, including "Three Dancing Maidens", created in 1910 by the German sculptor Walter Schott.

Charles A. Dana Discovery Center

Further up north, bordering Harlem, is Harlem Meer, one of the largest lakes in Central Park. The pretty Victorian-style building near the lake is much younger than it looks: it was built in 1993. It is home to the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, an environmental educational center targeting families and children.

The Mall and Literary Walk

If you're looking for a picturesque location within Central Park to take a stroll, you'll find it at the Mall. Covered by an awning of beautiful American elm trees, this pathway (from 66th to 72nd Streets) is the only straight line in the park and was designed as a grand promenade. While the Mall is still the place to see and be seen, the real draw is the magnificence of the trees.

Rumsey Playfield

Rumsey Playfield serves two very different purposes: it's both a ball field and a concert venue. Every summer, the City Parks Foundation hosts here one of the most celebrated series of outdoor events in all of New York City: SummerStage.

Cherry Hill

A gentle slope overlooking the Lake with views to the Ramble, Cherry Hill offers a contemplative space perfect for picnicking, reading, and sunbathing. Named for the cherry trees that bloom across its landscape in the spring, Cherry Hill was originally intended as a scenic turnaround featuring a decorative watering trough for horse-drawn carriages. Its central ornamental displays a decorative finial and frosted glass lighting globes. It was designed by architect Jacob Wrey Mould, the same designer of the carvings and Minton tile ceiling at Bethesda Terrace.

Huddlestone Arch

A marvel of engineering and construction, Huddlestone Arch is considered by many to be the most surprising of Central Park's arches.

Bethesda Fountain

Rising from Bethesda Terrace is Bethesda Fountain, with the famous Angel of the Waters statue atop. The statue references the Gospel of John, which describes an angel blessing the Pool of Bethesda and giving it healing powers.

The Loch

Winding through the Ravine, the Loch, Scottish for "lake," is partially fed by a natural watercourse, known in the 17th and 18th centuries as Montayne's Rivulet.

Conservatory Water

This area is popular with families and children because of the famous climbing sculptures, the storytelling programs, the model boats, the cafe and the site in the children's classic Stuart Little.

Carousel

The famed Carousel, with its sweet calliope music and 57 magnificent horses, is the fourth to stand in Central Park since 1871. It is one of Central Park's most popular attractions.

Gapstow Bridge

Curving gracefully over the neck of the Pond at 59th Street, Gapstow is one of the iconic bridges of Central Park. It is the second bridge in its place. The first, a much more elaborate wood and iron bridge, designed by Jacob Wrey Mould, deteriorated and was replaced in 1896.

Reservoir

Built in the 1860s as a temporary water supply for New York City, the Reservoir is surrounded by a 1.58 mile running track.

Harlem Meer

Central Park designers Olmsted and Vaux named this man-made water body "the Meer" - Dutch for "lake." It memorialized the former separate village of Harlem that was settled in the 17th Century by European settlers and included the upper regions of Central Park.

Wollman Rink

Skating on Wollman Rink is a winter tradition in New York. Many people have tied up their skates for the very first time on this ice.

Hernshead

Hernshead, a promontory that juts out into the Lake, is named after what must have once been the shape of a "hern" or heron’s head, and a bird often sighted in Central Park. Hernshead is planted with seasonal flowers and aquatic plantings.

Lasker Rink and Pool

Lasker Rink and Pool opened in 1966 and occupies a site that destroyed one of Olmsted and Vaux's magnificent landscape experiences by blocking the views from the Loch to the Harlem Meer.

Lawn Bowling and Croquet

Central Park is home to two beautiful fields for lawn bowling and croquet, each 15,000 square feet.

Loeb Boathouse

At the Loeb Boathouse, visitors can rent rowboats and bikes, hire an authentic Venetian gondola, or dine overlooking views of the Lake.

Volleyball Courts

Volleyball courts are available for play during warmer weather months.

Heckscher Ballfields

Hundreds of baseball and softball games are played each season at the six fields that make up the newly restored Heckscher Ballfields.

Handball Courts

The North Meadow Recreation Center is home to 12 handball courts.

Dancing Crane Cafe

Featuring a wide variety of meals, snacks, and beverages for both Park and Zoo visitors. Indoor and outdoor seating.

Tavern on the Green

Tavern on the Green restaurant was built in 1870 as the Sheepfold for the flock of sheep who grazed on the adjacent Sheep Meadow. In 1934 it was turned into a restaurant, which has seen many different owners and images in the past 80 years. The restaurant is currently under restoration and will open in the near future.

Le Pain Quotidien

Le Pain Quotidien is the popular European cafe chain that transformed the concession building north of Sheep Meadow at Mineral Springs, serving bakery fare, healthful salads, handmade breads, and organic drinks.

110th St. Bridge

Carrying traffic from Central Park West to the West Drive, the stone structure was one of a third wave of bridges that came to the Upper West Side of the Park in the 1890s.

Denesmouth Arch

One of Calvert Vaux's earliest arches, Denesmouth supports the 65th Street Transverse and it is the only Transverse Arch that is highly ornamented.

Azalea Pond

Azalea Pond gets its name from the century-old azalea plants that crown its southern edge. Restored by the Conservancy in 2004, it is one of the most active bird-watching spots in the Park.

Gill

A tumbling stream that cuts through the Ramble, the Gill trickles down a rocky slope before spilling into the Lake. It is a unique habitat and a favorite nook for birding.

Arthur Ross Pinetum

The Arthur Ross Pinetum is a four-acre landscape that features 17 different species of pine trees.

Olmsted Flower Bed

The flowerbed at the southern end of the Mall was created in 1972 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Frederick Law Olmsted's birthday.

Hallett Nature Sanctuary

Wrapping around the Pond at the southeast corner of Central Park is the 4-acre Hallett Nature Sanctuary, a peaceful haven just feet away from some of the most heavily trafficked paths of any park in the world.

Cedar Hill

Cedar Hill is a steep hillside meadow that ends in a shallow green valley. It is an ideal spot for passive Park activities such as picnicking, reading and sunbathing, and in winter one of the Park's most popular sledding hills.

Umpire Rock

One of the best examples of Central Park's rich endowment of exposed bedrock, Umpire Rock is likely named for its commanding view of nearby baseball diamonds.