Owned and maintained by the city, Inwood Hill Park is a reminder of what Manhattan might have looked like before steel and concrete overtook the borough. Hundreds of acres of natural land still exist in the park, making for a quiet reprieve in “the city that never sleeps.”

10. Inwood Hill Park Contains the Last Natural Forest in Manhattan

The northern tip of Inwood Hill Park (left), looking towards Marble Hill

Inwood Hill Park is home to the last natural forest and salt marsh in Manhattan. Aside from a few trails here and there, the 196-acre park contains a huge span of primordial green space, which is made up of mostly thick deciduous forest that has remained relatively untouched since the colonial days. When the Department of Parks purchased the land for Inwood Hill Park in 1916, the salt marsh was also saved and later landscaped. It serves as lasting reminder of the system of salt marshes that used to surround the island.