I love Central Park. Spending a day in the park was probably the highlight of my entire stay in New York. While New York City was much more grotty than I had anticipated, Central Park retained the NYC glamour and charm I’d heard so much about. It was a welcome break from the deeply underwhelming time we spent in the midtown area, where our hotel was.
We visited the park in early November and I can’t think of a better time to visit. The sun was still shining, and the colours of autumn still decorated the trees.
Because the park is quite big, we rented bikes for the day to cover as much ground as possible. I wish we had spent longer than a day kicking through the leaves and cycling round the park’s 6.1-mile ring road. Here are my highlights to spend a day exploring Central Park.
The Mall
Central Park was clearly built with the city dwellers in mind, providing them with a green area to escape to. A lot of places in the park seem to focus heavily on nature.
The Mall is the perfect example of this. It is a long, wide walkway, lined with American elm trees whose twisting limbs stretch to form a leafy arch above the visitors’ heads. Visiting in autumn meant the leaves above us were yellow and orange. They littered the wooden seats of the Mall, on which perched tourists, locals, and touts selling souvenirs.
If I hadn’t already been on a bike, I would have turned up to Central Park in my running gear with the sole intention of going for a jog down the Mall. It must be one of the weirdest aspirations ever, but I feel like it’s such an iconic thing to do! After all, something like that is always featured in films or TV shows set in New York! It’s the modern version of the carriages that made the short journey when the park was first built. One day I will return to New York and fulfil my simple dream of jogging down the Mall!
Bethesda Terrace, Fountain & Arcade
The Mall leads right the way down to Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace. Named after a biblical healing pool, the Bethesda Terrace has also featured in pretty much anything ever set in New York City.
We ran straight down the steps to the Bethesda Fountain. Strangely it had no water in it, but it was still impressively grand. Turning, we focused on the Bethesda Arcade behind us. Framed by stone arches, the arcade is decorated by beautiful Minton tiles covering the walls and ceiling. They are lit by soft orange lights, casting a golden glow over the tiles that was much more appealing than the daylight creeping in.
Exploring the arcade, we were alone apart from a busker playing the Titanic overture on the accordion. Moreover, there were rose petals on the floor—from a recent wedding, I like to imagine—which completed the dreamy and tranquil aesthetic.
The Lake
Our next stop was the candidly named Lake. Surrounded by russet-toned trees, The Lake wove away from us and I felt transported away from the city along with it. The Manhattan skyline peeked over the top of the trees, just about reminding us we were still in the middle of a metropolis.
Dotted across The Lake were people in little rowing boats. Despite it being early November, the sun was shining and I was hot in just a t-shirt. I think rowing a boat around would have been a step too far in the direction of strenuousness for me. We were also on a tight schedule to see as much of the park as possible before returning our bikes, so cruising around on The Lake was unfortunately out of the question.
Nevertheless, it was fun to watch the boats from the bank. If we’d had longer, I would have liked to pack a picnic and sit on the bank for a little while.
Instead, we wandered through the trees that encircled The Lake’s meandering bank. Known as The Ramble, the secluded paths wound under the shade, and occasionally we were forced to drag our bikes up narrow steps or around tight, wooded corners. The Lake was on our right, and the bright reflection of the sun on the water just about broke through the trees. With it came the faint sounds of the boaters, once again breaking the illusion that we had left the city entirely.
Bridges & Arches
With bridges, come arches: I’m a bit in love with this concept. There’s something quite romantic about it, but that’s definitely due in part to how beautiful the bridges and arches are in Central Park.
Not all the bridges in the park span water, so you are able to walk underneath a few. This is where they become arches.
My favourite was Glade Arch. We stumbled across (or underneath!) it while exploring the park. It’s low and wide, with giant stone slabs and decorative railings. It looks simultaneously ostentatious and discreet, and it was easy to picture what secretive dealings might have gone on here in the 1800s as carriages drove across above.
Gapstow Bridge, crossing The Pond in the southeast corner of the park, was the first bridge to catch my eye. I’m pretty sure this is the bridge that is always featured covered in snow in Christmas movies. It’s very quaint, and would look more at home in a tiny countryside village than with 5th Avenue towering behind it.
Bow Bridge spans The Lake, and it was here that we paused for a while to watch the boaters. With ornate flowerpots built into its framework, Bow Bridge was decorated with bouquets that matched the autumn leaves. Similarly, the bridge itself, arching gracefully over the water, was complemented by the pale stone of the skyscrapers behind.
Belvedere Castle
If you’ve read my post about exploring Budapest at sunrise, you’ll know I’ve come to love a nice fake castle. Belvedere Castle (even the name is an imitation) is situated in the middle of Central Park, and its turrets are the park’s highest point.
It’s a bit strange that a space designed so heavily around nature should feature a replica castle. The castle is also very out of place anyway, surrounded by views of Manhattan. I suppose gothic castles are few and far between in New York, so the 19th-century park architects decided to create their own.
Unfortunately it was closed for renovations when we visited so I didn’t get to explore it for myself. I would have enjoyed viewing the city from high in the middle of Central Park, but what can you do.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Our final stop as we breezed around Central Park on our bikes was the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. I was blown away by how beautiful it was. When I picture a reservoir, I normally think of a boring mass of water, not interesting enough to be classed as a lake, next to a motorway or airport. I was so surprised, then, when we arrived at the Jackie O Reservoir.
In fact, I nearly cycled right past it. As Central Park is very long, it’s quite hard to know where you are on the one-way circuit round the park. The road is now car-free, and I was so enjoying cycling fast up East Drive that I only stopped reluctantly to check where we were. Luckily, we were right in the centre of the reservoir’s east bank.
I can’t believe I ever overlooked the Jackie O Reservoir when researching our day in Central Park. Unlike The Lake, which twists and tapers, the reservoir is wide and open. From our spot on the east bank, we could see all the way across to the Upper West Side. The water is undisturbed by boaters so we were treated to the skyline’s beautiful reflection in the clear water. Consider my understanding of reservoirs changed forever!
At 840 acres, Central Park is pretty massive. There were lots of other places we could have visited that we didn’t quite have time for. Among my shortlisted favourites are:
Maybe it’s impossible to see all of Central Park in a day, but I’m confident that we saw its best bits. Thanks to its beautiful lakes, its russet-gold autumn colours, and the haven it provides from the city, Central Park has now become my favourite place in New York.
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