A Walk Through the Ravine, Brooklyn's Forest

In the middle of Prospect Park, Olmsted and Vaux built a forest. The Ravine is a deep, wooded valley with a stream that drops over a series of small cascades on its way to the Lullwater and the lake, and the Prospect Park Alliance calls it Brooklyn's only forest. Inside it you lose the city entirely: stone steps, a rustic bridge, water over rock and a high canopy that turns gold and red in the fall.

In 2025 the park mapped its woodland paths into its first official trail system, and the Ravine Loop, just under half a mile, follows the stream past the Ambergill cascade, climbs into the trees and ends at Boulder Bridge. One of the Alliance's suggested fall walks crosses the Long Meadow, threads the Ravine and comes out at the Nethermead Arches. Walk in across the Long Meadow from Grand Army Plaza; it is free. NYC Parks has also run free fall foliage canoe trips from the park's Boathouse, so check its calendar.