I’m Going to Say Something Controversial. Prospect Park Might Be Better Than Central Park.
I know. I know. Central Park is legendary. It’s in every movie. It has the reservoir and Bethesda Fountain and Strawberry Fields and that guy who plays saxophone near the Bethesda Terrace every Saturday.
But Prospect Park has something Central Park lost a long time ago. It feels like an actual escape. When you’re in the middle of the Long Meadow, surrounded by trees on every side, you genuinely forget you’re in Brooklyn. You forget you’re in a city at all.
Frederick Law Olmsted designed both parks. He considered Prospect Park his masterpiece. After spending years exploring both, I’m starting to agree with him.
Green-Wood-Cemetery-09993.jpgGrand Army Plaza · Grand Army Plaza
The Long Meadow. 90 Acres of Nothing But Green.
The Long Meadow is the centerpiece of Prospect Park, and it’s the thing that makes the park feel so different from Central Park. It’s 90 acres of uninterrupted grass, stretching from Grand Army Plaza down to the Picnic House. No roads cutting through it. No buildings visible above the tree line. Just green.
For context, the Great Lawn in Central Park is 55 acres and you can see skyscrapers from every angle. The Long Meadow is bigger and feels ten times more wild.
On weekends, it fills up with soccer games, picnics, dogs off-leash (before 9am and after 5pm), and people reading on blankets. It’s the best free outdoor space in New York City and I will die on that hill.
The Prospect Park Zoo. Small, Cheap, Perfect for Kids.
The Prospect Park Zoo ($9.95 adults, $6.95 kids) is tiny compared to the Bronx Zoo. That’s the whole point. You can see everything in about an hour, which is exactly the right amount of zoo for a small child before the meltdown phase kicks in.
The sea lion feeding is worth timing your visit around. The red pandas are absurdly cute. And the Discovery Trail lets kids get close to animals in a way that bigger zoos can’t manage.
Is it going to blow your mind if you’re an adult without kids? Probably not. But it’s a pleasant 45 minutes and it’s right there in the park.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Cherry Blossom Season Is Unreal.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden ($18 adults, free on winter weekdays) sits right next to Prospect Park, and during cherry blossom season in late March through mid-April, it becomes one of the most beautiful places in the entire city.
Green-Wood-Cemetery-00084.jpgGreen-Wood Cemetery · Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn
The Cherry Esplanade has over 200 cherry trees, and when they all bloom at once, it looks fake. Like someone photoshopped the whole garden pink. The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden is beautiful year-round, but during peak bloom it’s genuinely incredible.
Fair warning. During peak cherry blossom weekends (usually the first two weekends in April), the garden gets packed. Go on a weekday morning if you can. Tuesday at 10am is a completely different experience than Saturday at 2pm.
Brooklyn-Botanic-Garden-Spring-09740.jpgBrooklyn Botanic Garden · Prospect Heights
Lakeside. Ice Skating in Winter, Splash Pad in Summer.
LeFrak Center at Lakeside is the recreation hub of the park. In winter, it’s an ice skating rink ($9 admission, $7 skate rental). In summer, it turns into a splash pad and roller skating area. Year-round, it’s surrounded by some of the prettiest landscape in the park.
The ice skating here is better than Rockefeller Center, and I’m not even being contrarian. It’s bigger, cheaper, and you can actually skate instead of shuffling in a circle with 200 tourists. The views of the surrounding woods while you skate are genuinely lovely.
Grand Army Plaza. The Farmer’s Market Is Outstanding.
Grand Army Plaza is the main entrance to Prospect Park, anchored by the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch (modeled after the Arc de Triomphe, which is a bold architectural choice for Brooklyn). It’s impressive, and most people walk right past it.
The real draw is the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket, which runs every Saturday year-round from 8am to 4pm. It’s one of the best farmer’s markets in the city. Local produce, fresh bread from She Wolf Bakery, cheese, flowers, the whole thing.
I go almost every Saturday when the weather’s nice. The apple cider donuts in fall are a problem. The good kind of problem.
Running the Loop
The Prospect Park loop is 3.35 miles, and it’s one of the best running routes in the city. The road is closed to cars, the hills are gentle enough to be interesting without being brutal, and the scenery changes constantly. Woods, meadows, the lake, the boathouse.
If you’re a runner visiting Brooklyn, do this loop. You’ll see the entire park in 30-40 minutes and understand why people who live near Prospect Park never want to leave.
Smorgasburg on Sundays
Smorgasburg sets up in Prospect Park on Sundays from April through October (Breeze Hill, near the Lakeside entrance). It’s an outdoor food market with dozens of vendors, and the quality is consistently excellent.
The ramen burger got all the press years ago, but the real finds are the vendors that rotate in and out. Come hungry. Bring cash (some vendors are cash only). Plan to spend $15-25 on a full meal.
brooklyn-bridge-park-fall.jpgBrooklyn Bridge Park · Brooklyn Heights
The Boathouse
The Prospect Park Boathouse is a Beaux-Arts building on the Lullwater that was restored in 2013. It’s gorgeous. You can’t eat there (it’s an event space now), but it’s worth walking to just to see the building and the view of the water.
The Audubon Center inside offers free nature programs, and the area around the Boathouse is one of the quietest, most peaceful corners of the park. If you want to feel like you’ve left the city entirely, walk here.
Eating in Park Slope After
Park Slope borders the western edge of Prospect Park, and it’s full of restaurants. A few favorites for after a park day.
Al di Là (248 5th Avenue) is a Venetian Italian restaurant that’s been a Park Slope institution for decades. The braised rabbit is famous. Reservations are smart.
Winner (108 7th Avenue) does excellent Brooklyn-style pizza with a natural wine list. Casual, fun, and the margherita is one of the best in the neighborhood.
Café Regular du Nord (158 Berkeley Place) is a tiny Parisian-style coffee shop that serves excellent espresso and has about four seats. It’s perfect.
Getting There
Take the 2, 3 to Grand Army Plaza for the main entrance, or the B, Q to Prospect Park for the east side. The F, G to 15th Street-Prospect Park gets you to the southwest corner near the Bartel-Pritchard entrance.
Prospect Park pairs perfectly with the other great NYC parks or a longer Brooklyn walking route. My ideal day is the farmer’s market at Grand Army Plaza, a full loop of the park, the Botanic Garden if it’s spring, and dinner on 5th Avenue in Park Slope.
Make no mistake. Once you spend a full day at Prospect Park, Central Park is going to feel a little crowded.