The Great Hill

The Great Hill is a broad, open summit in the northwest corner of Central Park, a gently sloping lawn ringed by mature trees that provides one of the most expansive and least crowded gathering spaces in the park.

The Great Hill was one of the most damaged areas of Central Park during the park's decline in the 1970s and 1980s, when deferred maintenance, vandalism, and heavy use degraded the landscape. The Central Park Conservancy's restoration returned the hill to its original grandeur.

The summit offers views over the treetops of the North Woods toward Midtown's skyline, creating a panorama where the urban and the pastoral coexist in the way Olmsted and Vaux intended. The hill is a popular spot for picnics, kite flying, and informal gatherings.

The Great Hill's location in the less-visited northern section of Central Park means it retains a quieter character than the park's more famous southern landscapes. Visitors who make the trek are rewarded with space and solitude.

The Great Hill provides the broadest open landscape in Central Park's northern reaches, a summit where the city's skyline and the park's forest canopy meet at the horizon.