Summer vacation is here at last. Now is the time to go out and explore NYC before the Fall rolls around again and your readings and assignments pick up. If you can take some trips outside of New York City, that’s great, but if you’re hanging around during the summer, we have some suggestions on how to truly GO WILD. This summer, explore some of the wilderness NYC has to offer.

Manhattan

Get lost in Central Park’s lush 38 acres of woodland.
Be on the look out for: 230 species of birds; the Gill stream; native and exotic plants; such as the Black Cherry and Black Locust; American sycamore, oaks and Kentucky Coffee trees.

Brooklyn

Navigate through the Ravine, a beautiful, hilly area of the park that will take you right out of NYC. It is also surrounded by some of the oldest trees in the park.
Look out for: native oak trees, non-native Norway maple trees, sycamore maples, tulip trees and sweet gum.

Bronx

Visit New York City’s largest park property. Enjoy hiking trails, Orchard Beach, the Bartow-Pell Mansion, golf courses and the saltwater shoreline.
Look out for: the oak forest, meadows, salt marsh, 400 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects.

Queens 

Lay out on the sandy shores of Rockaway Beach.
Look out for: the piping plovers (a small, plump shorebird that breed on Atlantic beaches)

Staten Island

Check out the first designated wildlife preserve in New York. Today, Greenbelt has 430 acres of protected grounds.
Look out for: the salt meadow and low marsh, forested uplands, rock outcrops, the swamp forest and 117 bird species as well as snapping turtles, fiddler crabs and muskrats.

For more information about these preserves, suggestions for more pockets of wildlife in New York City and public transit directions, visit the NYC Parks “Forever Wild” website. Sometimes we all need to escape this concrete jungle, so get outside this summer and go wild.