People say that New York has everything; you just have to know how to find it. Inwood Hill Park is easily one of the most well kept secrets as well as being one of the most beautifully located parks in Manhattan. A virtual oasis, the park is filled with great natural elements, quiet being one of them, and from the top of the highest point of the hill you get a great view of the Cloisters and New Jersey. Go to Inwood Hill Park for a great day of relaxation and education.
The park is bounded by the Hudson River, Harlem River Ship Canal, Dyckman Street, and Payson and Seaman Avenues. Pick up a map of the walking trails in the park at the Inwood Hill Nature Center at the Western end of 218th Street. The map will show you all the trails that lead throughout the Park, and it is a wonderful nature trip. It has a magnificent view from its waterfront, a host of archaeological relics, recreational fields, ornithological study areas, jogging and pedestrian paths, and an annual Shakespeare Festival. Inwood is the northern tip of the island, everything lying north of Dyckman Avenue (200th Street), and is generally ignored by most tourist maps.
INWOOD HILL NATURE CENTER
The Inwood Hill Nature Center, located at Inwood Hill Park, 218th Street and Indian Road in Manhattan, was dedicated on September 15, 1995, as the Inwood Hill Park Ecology Center. Funded from private donations, state grants and the help of state and municipal politicians, the center is located on the only 12-acre salt-water marsh in Manhattan, which has an ecosystem of its own and is the last of its kind in the borough.
Manhattan was, at one time, ringed with salt marshes from Inwood to the lower end of the island. Due to years of landfill, the only one left is located in Inwood Hill Park. At high tide it is flooded while at low tide it is a rich stretch of mud. It is home to ducks, swans, geese and other forms of wildlife that migrate to the marsh annually, and you won't see this anywhere else on the island of Manhattan!
The Inwood Hill Park Nature Center was originally constructed as a boathouse and marina in 1937 as a part of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses grand plan for improving the park under the directives of the WPA, and remained open well into the 1950s. The center presently houses an Urban Park Ranger office and space for lecture and after-school programs, which include talks about ecology, history and other subjects. These are assisted with slides and videotapes as educational tools to better explain the presentations.
At the building site is a garden planted by the Parks Department, which shows the various flora of Inwood Hill Park. Some of the oldest trees in Manhattan are the tulip trees of Inwood.
The Inwood Hill Nature Center is open Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 PM and is located inside the park near the 218th Street and Indian Road entrance. You can get there by the IRT #1 and #9 train to 215th Street and Broadway and by bus (BX7, M100, and BX20) to 218th Street. For more information and tours, call (212) 304-2365 or log onto the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Web site.
HISTORY of INWOOD HILL PARK
According to local legend, the Dutch purchased Manhattan from the Indians for $24 worth of trinkets on November 5, 1626, near the knoll on the shore of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek which is at the North West end of the Park, at the Western end of 218th Street. To commemorate the occasion, the Indians planted a grown 300-year old tulip tree, the dimensions of which were 165 feet high and 6 and ½ feet around. The tree has been replaced with a plaque honoring the location and event. The cove in the Spuyten Duyvil Creek was the reputed landing site of Henry Hudson's ship Half Moon when Hudson first stepped foot on this shore.
Did you know that there are caves in Manhattan?! No not the Subway tunnels. Real caves, where people used to live. Inwood Hill Park has caves dating back centuries, and they were even featured in a major motion picture! “The Caveman’s Valentine”, starring Samuel L. Jackson shot many scenes in Inwood Hill Park. Movies make magic of everything. There was Indian habitation in the park as late as the 1920s and 1930s, and American Indian Princess Naomi, used to operate a Native American store and museum in the park.
During the American Revolution, Inwood Hill, was a war fortification known as Fort Cock Hill, and was the arena for many battles. After the fall of Fort Washington on November 26, 1776, the Hessians occupied the area. In 1954 the Peter Minuit Post of the American Legion dedicated a plaque at the southwest corner of the ball field (at 214th Street) to mark the location. A living link with the local Indians, who resided in the area, a magnificent tulip tree stood and grew on the site for 280 years. The marker also honors Peter Minuit's reputed purchase of Manhattan from the Lenape in 1626.
In the 1800s much of present-day Inwood Hill Park contained country homes and philanthropic institutions. There was a charity house for women, and a free public library (later the Dyckman Institute) was formed. The Straus family (who owned Macy's) enjoyed a country estate in Inwood. In 1992 Council Member Stanley E. Michels introduced legislation, which was enacted, to name the natural areas of Inwood Hill Park in honor of the Lenape who once resided there. In 1995 the Inwood Hill Park Urban Ecology Center was opened.
Geologically speaking, Inwood Hill Park is quite interesting and active. Marble, schist and limestone are prevalent in the area. Seismologically, the park is located between several earthquake faults: the Hudson River, Dyckman Street, Spuyten Duyvil and the Harlem River.
Inwood Hill Park contains the last natural salt marsh in Manhattan. The marsh receives a mixture of freshwater flowing from the upper Hudson River and saltwater from the oceans tides. The mix of salt and fresh waters has created an environment unique in the city.
The Urban Park Rangers offer regularly scheduled tours of Inwood Hill Park. These tours contain such topics as local history, park geology and ornithological and arboreal subjects. This is a great exhibit for the kids! It has also been designated as an interactive exhibit with ongoing monitoring of the natural area.
Today the park is an unmarred woodland refuge for nature lovers and the public as a whole. There are over 6 miles of pedestrian and hiking trails, and spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Harlem River Ship Canal. The park hosts a multitude of birds and animals that are contained in land closely maintained to resemble their natural habitats.
HOW TO GET THERE
The New York City Transit Authority has buses and subways that stop near the park. Passengers using the Hudson Division of Metro North can take the train to the Marble Hill Station and take any downtown City bus to 218th Street and Broadway to get to Inwood Hill Park - when you get off the bus at Broadway, walk West on 218th Street until you reach the Inwood Hill Boat House which is also the Nature Center. The buses that go nearest the park are the BX 7, BX 12, BX20 and the M 100. Visitors can also take the IRT Subway #1 and #9 to the 215th Street Station and the IND A train to 207th Street.
Information on Inwood Hill Park can be obtained by various methods. The Inwood Hill Park Nature Center can be reached at (212) 304-2365. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation has a Web site: https://nycgovparks.org/phpdig/index.php . For information on Baker Field and Columbia University log on to Columbia's web site, or try this site for some tasty history: https://college.columbia.edu/cct/spr99/34a.html . Head to Inwood Hill Park for a nice quiet oasis away from it all!
