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Photo: Epicgenius, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
None of Central Park is actual virgin forest, but this is the closest any part of the park gets to feeling like genuine forest. It is beautiful and cool in hot weather. However, like a real forest, it is a mosquito habitat, so make sure to use insect repellent before walking through this part of the park.
North Woods and North Meadow are two interconnected features in the northern section of Central Park, New York City, close to the neighborhoods of the Upper West Side and Harlem in Manhattan. The 90-acre (36 ha) North Woods, in the northwestern corner of the park, is a rugged woodland that contains a forest called the Ravine, as well as two water features called the Loch and the Pool. The western portion of the North Woods also includes Great Hill, the third highest point in Central Park. North Meadow, a recreation center and sports complex, is immediately southeast of the North Woods. Completed in the 1860s, North Woods and North Meadow were among the last parts of Central Park to be built.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
One of the highest points in the park, the Great Hill is a hilltop meadow surrounded by stately elm trees and serves as an excellent place to picnic.
On the north shore of the Harlem Meer, the Discovery Center holds education and community programs and seasonal exhibits, as well as offering a popular place for catch-and-release fishing.
This 11 acre lake is one of Central Park's finest spots; surrounded by flowering trees and inhabited by several fish and turtle species.
A six-acre garden which is Central Park's only formal garden, representing Italian, French, and English landscape styles, with formal plantings and numerous sculptures.
One of the most idyllic and tranquil landscapes in Central Park, the Pool is an excellent spot for quiet contemplation, with its grassy banks and nearby waterfalls. A stream, The Loch flows northeast from the Pool, through a stream valley called The Ravine. A trail that follows the Loch, winding under a canopy of tall trees as the stream goes over several waterfalls and passes under a couple of stone arches.
A Western-themed playground with a wooded fortress-like setting, canals, sandboxes, and water sprays.