Secret Places of Central Park: North Woods, Forts and Conservatory Garden

The top of Central Park, above 100th Street, gets a fraction of the crowds you meet around Bethesda Terrace, and it holds some of the park's oldest history. This walk stays up there, led by a historian and licensed New York City guide with more than 25 years of experience. It opens with the story of the park itself: who designed it, why it was built, when and how, and what stood on the land before. Then the route drops into the North Woods, the stretch the designers shaped to look like Adirondack mountain country, with a ravine, a hidden grotto, waterfalls and rustic bridges of stone and wood. You pass under a high stone arch from the 1860s, walk beside the Pool and the Loch, and climb to the sites of forts from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, one of them looking over Harlem Meer. On the east side you see the Davis Center, the park's latest addition, and finish in the Conservatory Garden, three formal gardens in French, English and Italian style laid out in the 1930s. The guide also keeps a few stops off the published list. The route is about 3.25 miles and takes around two and a half hours, on uneven ground: unpaved trails, rocks, dirt hills, uneven stairs and some slippery patches. Good shoes and a reasonable level of fitness matter, and the tour is not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health. Some spots can be closed by weather or park works. Tours go out in rain, snow or sun. Groups are limited to 16 people, and one booking covers up to 10. Commentary is in English; gratuities are extra.