The Hidden Emerald Gem: Forest Park in Queens

Forest Park, established since 1911 and designed by the well-known landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted (who also designed Central Park and Prospect Park), is the third largest park in Queens located in the neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Glendale, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven which spreads over 500+ acres of land for visitors to explore. Being a local in the area, I grew up coming to this wonderful park. When I mention it to people from the other boroughs or even from nearby neighborhoods, they do not even know this park exists. Even though one can find the mass greens of this park directly on the map of NYC, people would still overlook it and head to the more popular Central Park and Prospect Park instead. I do believe this is one of the reasons why I love this park. The park isn’t overcrowded with people struggling to find a towel space just to lie on the grass to get a tan. People aren’t fighting for seats at the benches to have a quick bite of their lunch, to read their books, or to surf their laptops. The majority of the facilities here are readily available. Most of the visitors are locals so you’ll constantly see people greeting one another and having small chats here and there.

Forest Park is a hidden emerald gem in the city because it feels nothing like the city. Once you enter, you will truly understand why they named it the ‘Forest’ Park. The land was molded by the Wisconsin glacier from the last Ice Age about 20,000 years ago. If you are craving nature but do not want to head out too far, this is the perfect place. There are 165 acres of trees all throughout a chain of small hills with plenty of bridle paths and hiking trails. This would be great for nature walks, jogging, biking, dog runs, and horseback riding. Horses are available for hire from private stables.