The Walking Group

This is the group I went walking with in Forest Park yesterday. Yes, that is me in the silly pink hat my brother bought for me at the US Golf Open two years ago.

(The following information was taken from the NYC Department of parks website.)

Forest Park is a huge park in Queens. Forest Park is the third largest park in Queens. It is surrounded by five ethnically diverse neighborhoods, Richmond Hill, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Woodhaven, and Glendale.

It is heavily forested and filled with song birds, rabbits, and quail. On August 9, 1895, the first parcel of land in what would later become Forest Park was purchased. Because of the numerous landowners involved, the park had to be procured in 124 parcels. When the last of the 538 acres of land was obtained in 1898, Brooklyn and Queens were part of New York City.

There is a golf course, clubhouse, bandshell and a greenhouse. The western portion of the park has softball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts,bocce courts, horseshoe pitches, and shuffleboard area. Victory Field sports complex - a 13.5-acre outdoor, athletic facility dedicated to the veterans of World War I - opened in the eastern park in 1927. It features a 400-meter track, handball courts, and facilities for pole vaulting, broad jumping, shot put, and discus throwing.

The eastern park offers a serene setting, as hiking trails and 7 miles of bridle paths traverse the area's northern forest, gully, and pine grove. Horses, which can be hired at two private stables, provide a fun way to survey the environment. Those who prefer to travel by foot have their choice among three designated hiking trails. The .5-mile red trail, 1.5-mile yellow trail, and 1.75-mile blue trail introduce park visitors to the natural wonders of the park.

The work projects administration laid road, built recreational facilities, and installed park paths. Forest Park is one of the last natural densely forested parks in New York City, abundant not only with vegetation, but wildlife and knob-and-kettle topography.

Environmental features of the park are plentiful. Kettle holes, knobs, boulders, and a rocky terrain are remnants of the region's glacial past. With specimens over 150 years old, the 413 acres of native red and white oak forest is another natural attraction of the park. After exploring the largest continuous oak forest in the country, arboreal-minded citizens can walk through the pine grove, a stand whose beginnings can be traced to the planting of 2,500 trees in 1914.