55,000 Steps Across Manhattan Island in One Spring Day

I got this idea in my head that I couldn't shake. I wanted to walk the length of Manhattan island. After almost three years in this city I'd never been north of 116th street on foot. One of the things I love most about New York is that wilderness isn't far away in terms of distance; but when you're in the heart of the city it can feel like forever away.

It's a little over 13 miles from the tip of Manhattan's residential north to the far south of Battery Park, and in the short days of early Spring there's a risk you'd be pounding the pavement in the dark without careful planning. So I instruct my co-conspirators to be at the 215th Street station at 8am or risk being left behind.

We track a path due west to the Hudson river through Inwood Hill Park and then south. That first nook of wilderness feels like a forest compared to the rest of Manhattan's well manicured parks. The trees tower over you all around and with their leaves bare it's like walking through the ruins of a lost civilization. 

There are three of us and we allow each other two diversions along our course. We set no other rules. 

That one rule however, leads us on a wild goose chase. We all want to visit too many things: the Little Red Lighthouse, Riverbank State Park, Jackie Robinson Park, General Grant's statue, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Apollo Theater, The Studio Museum, Morningside Park, a weird street under the elevated train in Harlem where the shadows hit the road in a beautiful pattern at certain times of day. And all of that is before lunch.

In the end we add another 20 miles to the 13-and-a-bit mile base trip. My final tally is 33 miles—55,000 steps—which I feel in my knees for three weeks afterwards and is a single day's step count higher than anyone I've ever met. 

When you think of “getting away” for the weekend, most people wouldn't think about a hike through manhattan. But I urge you to reconsider. This 23 square mile island is home to an unending network of wonders both manmade and natural that so many people pass by without a second glance. Give yourself a day sometime to look out and look up and see what you find.