Running tour · Manhattan

The Loop: Central Park

6.0 mi run

Open in Stride Stories

The stories on this route

1. The Pond and the Greensward Plan

   First stop, just off the drive.

2. Cleopatra's Needle

   Look for the tip of the obelisk above the trees, on its knoll just west of the museum. It's about 3,500 years old, and it has nothing to do with Cleopatra.

3. The Reservoir

   Up the bank, beyond the iron fence, is the Reservoir: 106 acres, holding over a billion gallons of water. It was finished by 1862 to store Croton drinking water. Since 1993 it's no longer part of the city's supply. New Yorkers feared it would be turfed over, and wrote letters to keep it.

4. Fred Lebow and the Marathon

   Look for the bronze man in a running suit and cap, glancing at his watch. That's Fred Lebow. He was born Fischel Lebowitz in Romania in 1932, survived the Holocaust, and founded the New York City Marathon.

5. McGown's Pass

   Here the road climbs to a crest, then drops toward the Harlem Meer. That dip is McGown's Pass, named for the family who kept a tavern here from the 1750s. A British report said a few troops could stop an army at this spot. For most of the British occupation it was a Hessian camp.

6. Harlem Meer

   Look out at the water: Harlem Meer, about eleven acres of it. Meer is Dutch for lake. Harlem is for the neighbourhood next door.

7. The Blockhouse and Harlem Hill

   Look up into the North Woods, near the 110th Street end. On a rock crag sits a squat, roofless stone fort. That's the Blockhouse, finished in 1814. Only Cleopatra's Needle is older in the park, and this is the oldest structure still standing that was built on the park site.

8. Seneca Village

   Look into the trees toward Central Park West, between about 82nd and 89th Streets. This was Seneca Village.

9. Strawberry Fields

   Off to your right, toward Central Park West, is a round mosaic with a single word: Imagine. There are usually flowers on it, and often a busker nearby. This is Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon, named after his song.

10. Sheep Meadow and Tavern on the Green

    Look east across the big lawn, with midtown rising beyond it. This is Sheep Meadow, and yes, it really had sheep.

11. USS Maine Monument

    Look up at the tall marble pylon on the corner. On top, a gilded Columbia rides a seashell chariot, pulled by three sea-horses. Her model was Audrey Munson.

Stories researched October 2026 · every fact checked against a source