Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of NYC’s outdoor season, and the smart move this Saturday and Sunday isn’t fighting Central Park crowds — it’s heading north on the A train to Fort Tryon Park, the 67-acre Upper Manhattan ridge that gives you a working forest, a medieval museum, and Hudson River views without the Memorial Day weekend crush.
Why Fort Tryon Park This Weekend
Fort Tryon sits in Washington Heights and Inwood, perched on a ridge that runs from 192nd Street up to Riverside Drive, with the Hudson River unfurling below the western edge. The park’s signature attraction, the Heather Garden, is the largest public garden in NYC and home to more than 500 varieties of plants, trees, and shrubs. Late May is one of the best windows of the year to walk through it — the early heathers are giving way to the second wave of perennials, and the wildflower meadows along the trails are filling in.
The weather cooperates, too. Forecasts for the Memorial Day weekend in NYC are landing in the comfortable 70s, with a warming trend through Monday — exactly the kind of weather where a shaded ridge with constant river breeze beats a treeless plaza.
The Met Cloisters Is Right Inside the Park
If you’ve never combined a Fort Tryon walk with a stop at The Met Cloisters, that’s the move. The museum sits inside the park at 99 Margaret Corbin Drive and houses nearly 5,000 medieval works in a building assembled from several European structures. From March through October — including this weekend — The Cloisters is open Monday–Tuesday and Thursday–Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Wednesdays.
Pricing is the friendly part: New York State residents and NY/NJ/CT students pay what they wish (minimum one cent per ticket). Out-of-state adults pay $30. Members and kids under 12 are free. A full-priced ticket is also good for three consecutive days across Met Fifth Avenue and The Cloisters.
How to Get There
Take the A train to 190th Street. Ride the elevator up to Fort Washington Avenue and walk north — the tall stone pillars at Margaret Corbin Circle (intersection of Fort Washington Avenue and Cabrini Boulevard) mark the southern entrance to the park. The address for the main entrance is 1 Margaret Corbin Drive, New York, NY. The M4 bus also stops directly at the entrance for anyone who prefers surface transit or has mobility needs.
A 3-Hour Weekend Loop
This is the route that gets you the most out of one trip: enter at Margaret Corbin Circle, walk the perimeter path of the Heather Garden, drop down to the Linden Terrace for the Hudson River viewpoint (the George Washington Bridge and the New Jersey Palisades fill the entire western view), then loop north on the wooded trails toward Billings Lawn. Time your loop so you arrive at The Cloisters mid-afternoon — admission is timed but rarely sells out for Saturday or Sunday afternoons.
Pro Tips
- Bring a picnic. The lawns near the New Leaf Restaurant and the Linden Terrace are first-come, first-served and have some of the best Hudson views in the borough. Glass containers and alcohol are not permitted in NYC parks.
- The trails are real trails. Fort Tryon is steeper than most Manhattan parks. Wear actual walking shoes, not flip-flops.
- Restrooms exist near The Cloisters but are limited elsewhere in the park — plan accordingly.
- Dogs are welcome on leash on park paths but not inside The Cloisters.
- Sun-safety reminder: the ridge is exposed in places. Bring water and sunscreen, especially Sunday and Monday when temperatures climb.
If Fort Tryon Is Full
If you arrive at Margaret Corbin Circle and it looks packed, two quieter backups are within walking or a short transit hop: Inwood Hill Park (the last old-growth forest in Manhattan, just north of Fort Tryon at the A train’s 207th Street stop) and the Hudson River Greenway, which you can pick up at the western base of the park and walk south for as long as your legs allow.
The Weekend in One Line
If you only have one outdoor day this Memorial Day weekend and you want New York to feel like it’s giving you something new, Fort Tryon Park is the answer — a real ridge, a real garden, a real medieval museum, and a 30-minute subway ride from Midtown.
Sources: NYC Parks Fort Tryon Park page; Fort Tryon Park Conservancy; The Met Cloisters official page on metmuseum.org.
