Highbridge Park Hiking Trails

Highbridge Park is a destination for adventure seekers, nature lovers, and history buffs alike. Magnificent cliffs, beautiful lawns, scenic overlooks, meandering forest pathways, and countless picnic areas make it a sanctuary from the city. It is composed of 130 acres of both natural forest and recreational space.

The park is named for the High Bridge, which is part of the Old Croton Aqueduct and is the city’s oldest standing bridge. Beginning in 1842, the aqueduct ran 41 miles into the city, providing New York with its first reliable source of clean water. In 2015, the bridge reopened after a 40-year closure, once again connecting Manhattan and the Bronx. That same year, Highbridge Park received $30 million as part of the city’s Anchor Parks Initiative, funding that will help improve the park’s safety, forest ecology, and connectivity, and create new places to play and discover.

Highbridge Park is also home to a variety of native and introduced forests, and include northern red oaks, hickory, sweetgum, and tulip trees, as well as Indigenous black cherry, sassafras and hackberry trees, Virginia creeper, blackberry, raspberry, grape, and sumacs.

The re-discovery of the dusky salamander, a city-rare species back in the park, a white-footed mouse that genetically evolved into a type unique to Highbridge Park, as well as the abundant presence of hawks, many kinds of birds, and snakes, illustrate the essential ecological value of the park.

Old Croton Aqueduct Trail: Access this trail at Edgecombe Avenue and West 158th Street. The trail follows the route of the underground aqueduct, which remained in service until 1950. It travels for a mile from the Highbridge to 158th Street and then continues through Manhattan, ending at Bryant Park. This trail highlights the remains of the aqueduct and provides a sense of the complex engineering required to build it. Two scenic overlooks offering views from rocky outcroppings to the Harlem River and the Bronx are found along the trail, as well as the tremendous views afforded from the High Bridge itself.

Mountain Biking Trails: Highbridge Park is the home of NYC's first Mountain Biking Course. The 3-mile course offers trails of varying difficulty from Intermediate to expert, and a free-ride trail that includes drops, steeps, and berms. The park also features a Dirt Jump Park and pump track, making it a good place to develop different skills at all levels. The course has been featured in national media, and is stewarded by volunteers from the New York City Mountain Bike Association.

Download the Highbridge Bike Trail Map.

Interactive Map

Points of Interest

Highbridge Scenic View Point Harlem River

The view from this rocky outcropping is a few steps away along a natural trail from the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. The expansive view is over the Harlem River Drive to the Harlem River and into the Bronx.

View Highbridge Scenic View Point East River on the map

Scenic View Point OCA GraniteWall

(Scenic Forest View & Point of Interest along the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail)

This view is an open expanse along the trail within the wooded upland that offers a glimpse into the remaining infrastructure of the aqueduct with the beautiful granite walls and a scenic forest setting.

View Scenic View Point OCA GraniteWall on the map

Hiking in NYC Parks

Visit our Hiking in NYC Parks page to find more nature trails in parks across New York City.