New York County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: June 24, 2008
Author: Micah Schneider

There are two candidates for the HP of Manhattan, both in the Washington Heights neighborhood. The first one, in Bennett Park, is the "official" highpoint of Manhattan, dutifully marked with a plaque. The A and 1 trains both have stations at 181st, with the A train (which is actually on Fort Washington Avenue) being somewhat closer. The main entrance of Bennett Park is on Fort Washington Avenue. The highpoint is a clearly visible rock outcrop in a small fenced area within the stone walls of the park. The fence is not meant to keep people out, as the gate is unlocked and many people were enjoying the park. The chain link fence mentioned in previous reports is gone. At this HP, our GPS read 310 feet, somewhat higher than the official number of 265. We stayed long enough to allow it time to settle a bit. The signals were fairly strong, considering the nearby high buildings but this number should obviously be taken with a grain of salt.

The second point is in Fort Tryon Park, a short walk up Fort Washington Avenue and convenient to the A train's station on 190th Street. The Cloisters, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are also nearby and worth a visit. The HP candidate is the Linden Terrace, an area of the park that boasts excellent views in several directions. The main part of this area is clearly built-up and our GPS's highest reading was 290 feet. Again, we allowed the device time to settle, and 290 was the highest reading. We suspect that Bennett Park is higher but until more precise measuring tools are used, future highpointers will likely have to continue to visit both spots. Luckily, the view at Fort Tryon is worth the "extra" trip.

Total distance, from the 181st A train station to Bennett Park, is under 1000 feet. Total walk, including Fort Tryon, ending at the 190th Street station, is about one mile.