Think you know the secrets of Central Park? Even native New Yorkers can learn something about the nooks and crannies of this unique 840-acre enclave.
One of the best ways to really discover the place, to put it in proper perspective, is to book a scholar-led Context Travel walking tour. Savvy docents will shed light on the park’s pedigree. It may look natural, but it’s really a meticulously planned and executed piece of landscape architecture. Context Travel says designers Fredric Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux spent almost 20 years overseeing construction of their masterwork. During much of that time they had to struggle against “a corrupt city government and a not entirely appreciative public.”
The government works now in New York, and the public is appropriately appreciative. You will be too after you finish up the intimate, incisive three-hour trek. Don’t call the folks who lead the journey “tour guides.” They’re legitimate scholars, people who possess a passion for the park and all that it stands for. They’ll show you Central Park’s best-known monuments, as well as some lesser-know lights – and throw in an illuminative century-and-a-half of New York and American history in the process.
In town for just a short time and don’t have time to take the tour? See the city’s butterflies while they’re still aflutter (July and August are prime months). Eschew the more popular Conservatory of Shakespeare gardens and set out for the North Meadow. It possesses five “secret” gardens. Among the winged beauties sited in Central Park are Zabulon Skipper, Red Admiral, Silver-spotted Skipper, Summer Azure, Banded Hairstreak, American Lady, Mourning Cloak and others.
Butterflies are free (sorry, we had to say that). The Context Travel tour runs $65 per person. Put in perspective and that’s about the cost of a good dinner for in Manhattan, with wine.
(Image: Mathew Knott)
