I’ve Visited 7 Transit-Accessible Nature Spots in NYC. Here’s How I Rank Them.

I love living in New York City, and one of the biggest reasons is that it is easy to live here without a car. I would rather read a book on the train than sit in traffic, and I get around on foot, on transit, and on a bike.

But, the hardest part of car-free life here getting to real nature. I mean real trails, forests, and the feeling of being a part of the vast ecosystem of other living things.

For a long time I just did without it, and I think my mental health paid for it. Over the past year I went looking for the nature you can reach inside the five boroughs on a single subway swipe, and I have now been to seven of these places myself.

This is the guide I wish I’d had. I rank each spot on two things, how much it feels like untouched nature and how easy it is to get to without a car, and I order the list from most accessible to least. Every one of these makes a great half-day trip.

New York has a lot of parkland, but much of the best of it sits on the outskirts. Of the parks larger than Central Park, two are up in the North Bronx against the Westchester line and two are on Staten Island. That is not an accident. As the region built out in the 20th century, it built around highways and sprawl, and the green space that survived mostly survived because small groups fought to keep it. I will come back to that.

Quick comparison, Ranked by transit-accessibility

#	Place	Borough	Transit	Nature	Easiest car-free route
1	Central Park North Woods	Manhattan	10/10	6/10	Half a dozen subway lines to W 110th St
2	Inwood Hill Park	Manhattan	9/10	9/10	A to 207th St, or 1 to 215th St
3	Randall’s Island	Manhattan	8/10	5/10	103rd St footbridge, or M35 bus
4	Governors Island	Manhattan	7/10	5/10	Ferry from the Battery Maritime Building
5	Van Cortlandt Park	Bronx	7/10	8/10	1 to 242nd St, or 4 to Woodlawn
6	Pelham Bay Park	Bronx	6/10	9/10	6 to the last stop, then a bus or bike
7	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	Queens	6/10	9/10	A (Far Rockaway bound) to Broad Channel

1. The North Woods, Central Park (Manhattan)

Transit 10/10. Nature 6/10.

If you want the most nature for the least effort, nothing in the city beats this. The North Woods is the part of Central Park where you can stand on a dirt trail next to a stream and forget, for a second, where you are. It is curated woodland rather than true wilderness, but it still feels like woods. It’s ringed by something like half a dozen subway lines and Citi Bike docks.

Getting there. Almost too easy. I like to enter near Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd and West 110th Street, where you are under the trees the moment you cross the main bike path.

There is no official loop, and that is the point. If you follow the AllTrails route it keeps pulling you out of the woods and back in, and the Central Park Conservancy’s tour skips the small trails that feel the most wild. My rule is simple. Stay inside the boundary, and if you cross one of the main paved cycling routes, you have left the North Woods. The Loch and the Ravine are the tourist sites here, but the interior, hillier and quieter parts is where I spend most of my time.

Read more. The Best Place to “Hike” in Central Park Is the North Woods

2. Inwood Hill Park (Manhattan)

Transit 9/10. Nature 9/10.

This one is a gem, and the rare spot that scores high on both axes. Inwood Hill holds the last old-growth forest on Manhattan Island, land that was never landscaped the way the rest of the borough’s parks were. You get real forest, glacial rock, caves, and a salt marsh, all at the top of Manhattan.

Getting there. About as good as nature access gets in this city. The A train to 207th Street puts you under five minutes from the park, and the 1 train to 215th Street is close too.

The only thing keeping this from a perfect score is a familiar villain. Robert Moses ran the Henry Hudson Parkway through here over the objections of people who wanted the shoreline left intact, and you feel it at the edges. What survives is still remarkable.

3. Randall’s Island (Manhattan)

Transit 8/10. Nature 5/10.

Randall’s Island is mostly sports fields, but tucked around them are some lovely marsh and woodland areas, and because it is an island it has that nice feeling of being set apart from the city. The catch is that the Triboro Bridge overhead and the Wards Island facilities nearby make sure you never quite forget where you are.

Still, because of its accessibility to residents of three boroughs, it’s on the list.

Getting there. Better than people assume. The 103rd Street footbridge from East Harlem is open to pedestrians and cyclists around the clock, every day of the year, and it drops you at the southern tip of the island. You can also take the 4, 5, or 6 to 125th Street and pick up the M35 bus. From Astoria, you can go over the Triboro Bridge, and from the Bronx, the Randall’s Island Connector is a gem.

Go for a short, easy outing that ends with a picnic rather than a deep nature day. I like to go through the marshlands near the Hell Gate pathway.

4. Governors Island (Manhattan)

Transit 7/10. Nature 5/10.

I have a soft spot for this place. Calling it untouched nature would be a stretch, since a good chunk of the island is landfill from digging the Lexington Avenue subway. But there are hidden sandy beaches along the channel in the Upper Bay, big trees, and pollinator gardens where I have happily lost half an hour watching bees work.

Getting there. For Governors Island, this is part of the fun. What it lacks in forest it makes up with the connection to the water. The ferry from the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan is cheap, $5 round trip, and free for a lot of people if you’re an NYC resident or if you go before 11am on weekends. The ride itself is an experience.

I first got to know the island from a college class that met out here once a week, and I looked forward to it every single time. It became a kind of playground. Note that the island is seasonal, so check before you go. If you want a low-effort day that feels like leaving the city without really leaving it, this is a great pick.

5. Van Cortlandt Park Cass Gallagher Trail (Bronx)

Transit 7/10. Nature 8/10.

Van Cortlandt has true old-growth forest, trees that look hundreds of years old, plus wetland and proper dirt trails. Unlike Central Park, which was landscaped in the 19th century, parts of Van Cortlandt still reflect the original environment. I did the John Muir and Cass Gallagher trails in one go without doubling back. For hiking, a few loops around the Cass Gallagher trail is your best bet.

Getting there. Doable but a bit of a walk. From the Woodlawn side it is 20-plus minutes on foot from the 4 train or Metro-North, and slightly more from the 2 at 233rd Street. From Riverdale, take the 1 to 242nd Street and walk up, or grab the Bx9 bus. My mindset is that you are on a hike anyway, so the walk in counts.

Robert Moses ran three highways through this park, and the John Muir Trail makes you cross or pass under all of them. The underpasses are grim and the golf course breaks the spell in the middle. But the Cass Gallagher loop on the Riverdale side has the biggest trees and no highways at all, and it is the part I would do on repeat if I lived closer.

Read more. I Hiked in Van Cortlandt Park. Here’s What It’s Really Like

6. Pelham Bay Park Hunter and Twin Islands (Bronx)

Transit 6/10. Nature 9/10.

If I had to send someone to one place to feel like they left New York entirely, it might be here. Pelham Bay Park is the city’s biggest park, more than three times the size of Central Park, with a real forest, a salt marsh, a lagoon, and a beach. I did the Hunter Island and Twin Island loops in one trip. It doesn’t have elevation, but it has everything else.

Getting there. This is what costs it points. You take the 6 to the last stop, Pelham Bay Park, about 50 minutes from Midtown. From there it is a bus or a bike. In summer some Bx12 buses run to Orchard Beach near the trailhead. Off-season I take the Bx29 toward City Island and walk in, or rent a Veo or Lime scooter or bike from the station.

Hunter Island is dense forest where I saw exactly one other hiker. Twin Island is open salt marsh and feels like a different world. Bring bug spray from June through September, and consider pairing the trip with City Island while you are out there.

Read more. Hiking Pelham Bay Park, the NYC Park That’s Bigger Than Central Park

7. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (Queens)

Transit 6/10. Nature 9/10.

Jamaica Bay is the one I would point birders to first. It is a national wildlife refuge, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and it has open water, ponds, and trails that draw an enormous variety of birds. For sheer wildness it is right up there with Pelham Bay.

Getting there. Take the A train, and this matters, the Far Rockaway bound branch, not the Lefferts Boulevard branch, to Broad Channel. From there it is roughly an 18-minute walk along Cross Bay Boulevard to the visitor center, or you can pick up the Q52 or Q53 SBS bus, which stops at the refuge entrance. The ride out over the water is half the appeal.

The visitor center is open Friday through Monday.

One I haven’t done yet: the Staten Island Greenbelt

I am told the Staten Island Greenbelt belongs on this list, and on paper it sounds like it should. I haven’t made it out there. I know I should, and I’ll let you know how the journey was.

Appendix: just outside the city, Cold Spring

This one is not in the five boroughs, but it is the natural next step once you have done the in-city spots. Cold Spring is a Hudson Valley town with river views, a walkable Main Street, and real hiking trails a short walk from the train, and you can do the whole thing car-free.

Getting there. Metro-North’s Hudson Line out of Grand Central, about an hour and fifteen minutes. You want a northbound train toward Poughkeepsie, since the Croton-Harmon trains turn around before Cold Spring. Off-peak fare is about $16 each way. Sit on the west side for the river.

You can scale the day to whatever you want. Breakneck Ridge and Bull Hill are the serious climbs. The Little Stony Point loop is an easy, near-flat walk with a small beach cove. On a nice weekend this town is overrun with day-trippers. Go on a weekday if you can.

Read more. Cold Spring Day Trip From NYC Without a Car. Here’s Exactly How I Did It

Why this matters, and why I keep doing it

Most New Yorkers will never make it to Pelham Bay Park or Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. It is unfortunate that, even within the city, it’s hard to get to the last undeveloped portions of it. A lot of that only came to be true in the last century. As we built the city around cars, forests got cut down for sprawling homes both in and just outside the city.

Fortunately, these seven places are the counterargument. Forest, salt marsh, wildlife, and beach, all reachable on a subway swipe. None of them got protected by magic. The North Woods exists because someone decided it should. Pelham Bay survived because people like Dr. Kazimiroff (who has a trail named after him) fought for it. That is the story of nearly every urban green space, down to the smallest community garden.

So I will keep riding out to the end of the line to find these spots, and I will keep arguing that we should build more of them, closer to where more people live. We are nature, and as we shape our cities in the 21st century, we must remember that.

FAQ

What is the most accessible nature in NYC without a car?

The North Woods in Central Park. It is reachable by roughly half a dozen subway lines, and you are in the trees minutes after you leave the station.

What feels the most like real, wild nature?

Pelham Bay Park, Inwood Hill Park, and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge top the list. Pelham Bay has the size and variety, Inwood Hill has Manhattan’s last natural forest, and Jamaica Bay is unmatched to see different wildlife.

Do I need a car for any of these?

No. Every spot in this guide is reachable by transit.

Which are good with kids?

The North Woods, Governors Island, and the easier loops at Pelham Bay are all manageable. For Pelham Bay and Jamaica Bay, watch the summer mosquitoes near the salt marshes.

Do I need hiking boots?

For everything inside the city, no. Sturdy sneakers or trail runners are fine. Save the boots for Breakneck Ridge up in Cold Spring.

What is the best time of year to go?

Spring and fall are ideal across the board. They give you the best weather, the fewest mosquitoes near the marshes, and the smallest crowds.