8. Forest Park, Queens
Also designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (best known as the designer of Central Park and Prospect Park), Forest Park in Queens is 544 acres and has the largest continuous oak forest in the borough. In the late 19th century, when Olmsted surveyed the land to construct Forest Park, he purposely designed the space so that it would retain its “pastoral quality.”
To this day, that quality is on full display, and is made easily accessible thanks to the park’s three hiking trails. The 1 mile Yellow Trail, the 1.7 mile Blue Trail, and the 2.4 mile Orange Trail weave throughout the entire park, offering a splendid path through the oak-hickory forest and past numerous ponds.