Hiking🌳Last Natural Forest of Mannahatta >Land of Lenape People

Adventure & hike with me in Inwood Hill Park, on Manhattan's northern tip, the hiking trails of Inwood Hill Park will lead us through the last natural forest and salt marsh in Manhattan, and through thousands of years of human history.

DISCOVER unique places:

Rock Formations
These giant stones, made of schist, were dropped in place by the Wisconsin glacier 50,000 years ago. Artifacts and remains of old campfires were found here, suggesting their use as temporary shelters by the members of the Lenape people.

Shorakkopoch Rock
In Protected content Peter Minuit Post of the American Legion dedicated a plaque at the southwest corner of the ballfield (at 214th Street) to mark the location of a historic tulip tree and the site in Protected content Minuit believed he had purchased Mannahatta from the Lenape Peoples, an action contradictory to Lenape worldviews regarding property ownership. A living link with the Lenape who resided in the area, the magnificent tulip tree stood and grew on the site for Protected content until its death in Protected content . The “sale” of the island has also been linked to sites in Lower Manhattan.

Inwood Salt Marsh
The salt marsh at Inwood is Manhattan’s last salt marsh. The area of the soccer field was part of the original marsh, but was filled in when the subway was built in Protected content . The marsh is brackish (a mixture of fresh and salt water), tidal, and home to a variety of animals such as mummichogs (small kill fish), mussels, snails, crabs, and a variety of waterfowl.