The High Line trail runs 30 feet above the bustling Manhattan streets and sidewalks below, which for trail lovers makes it an attraction in the same league as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. In fact, this celebrated urban park and aerial greenway joined the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2011.
The trail, developed on a former elevated freight line, offers more than just a place to walk on the Lower West Side. It's an aerial public park set amid brick buildings and glass-and-concrete skyscrapers where you can enter art museums, restaurants, and hotels or participate in an activity calendar chock-full of cultural events.
Visitors gain access to the High Line from nearly a dozen stairways and elevators along its 1.5-mile length. Once on the walkway, they're treated to displays of sculpture, well-tended gardens, and views of the Hudson River, docks, and a rail yard below.
The elevated railway came into existence in 1934 to get freight trains off the streets below. Dwindling use led to closure of the tracks by the 1980s, and a citizens group, Friends of the High Line, fought to block its demolition and raised money for its preservation. After years of struggle, CSX Transportation turned over the property to the city in 2005, and construction on the walkway began the following year.
The first section opened in 2009, running 10 blocks north from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, with some sections passing through buildings. Two years later, another section opened from 20th Street to 30th Street. The final section, High Line at the Rail Yards opened in 2014 and continued the trail from 30th Street to 34th Street.
As you start in the south at Gansevoort Street, imagine the railway passing through buildings in the Meatpacking District, where workers could unload livestock and load butchered meat. Today, the Whitney Museum of American Art stands next to the trail, displaying its collections from contemporary artists. The gardens of grasses and wildflowers here and throughout the trail represent the wild plants that sprouted as the elevated tracks sat dormant.
Crossing 13th Street, you can see the old Pier 54 archway on the Hudson, where passengers landed from transatlantic voyages. In another block, you'll walk through the Diller von Furstenberg Sundeck, a popular gathering spot that combines outdoor furniture with steel planters full of wildflowers and grasses. Chelsea Market emerges on the streets below in the next block, at one time the location of the National Biscuit Co., later known as Nabisco.
A few blocks north, between 18th and 19th Streets, you'll stroll through the Chelsea Grasslands. At 23rd Street you can see the sprawling brick London Terrace complex—at 1,700 units, it was once the largest apartment building in the world. At 30th Street, the High Line swings left toward the Hudson River. A section of concrete deck has been removed here to reveal the steel beams and girders underneath. As the High Line parallels the Hudson, you have unobstructed views of river traffic to the west or 30 sets of track in the Long Island Rail Road yard to the east.
The High Line-Moynihan Train Hall Connector opened in June 2023. The 600-foot, L-shaped Connector splits from the High Line at 10th Avenue and continues southeast above W 30th Street. Turning 90 degrees to follow Dyer Avenue north, it crosses over 31st Street. Continue through the public space at Manhattan West and turn west to exit onto 9th Street directly across from Moynihan Train Hall. The Connector is composed of a 340-foot Woodland Bridge running above West 30th Street from the High Line's terminus at the Spur and a 260-foot Timber Bridge running north above Dyer Avenue toward the adjacent Magnolia Court pedestrian plaza at Manhattan West. One-block-long, the Timber Bridge is built from sustainably sourced Alaskan Yellow Cedar. Safety improvements were made at street level as well, including new pedestrian signals, lighting, crosswalks, refuge islands, and large planters. Crossing over busy streets, the Connector provides a pedestrian link between transit amenities and the west side of Manhattan with only one street crossing.
The High Line is open April, May, October, and November, 7am to 10pm; June to September, 7am to 11pm; and December to March, 7am to 7pm.
You can reach the southern trailhead at the intersection of Gansevoort Street and Washington Street via subway on the A, C, E, and L lines to 14th Street and Eighth Avenue; or the 1, 2, and 3 lines to 14th Street and Seventh Avenue. To arrive by bus, you can take the M11 to Washington Street or Ninth Avenue, or take the M14 to Ninth Avenue.
You can reach the northern trailhead via subway by taking the 7 line to 34th St/Hudson Yards.
Visit the TrailLink map for all transit options and detailed directions.
I went on this trail in May, and it was the perfect weather. Warm, sunny, and thoroughly enjoyable. Nestled in the city, it is the perfect balance of urban/industrial vibes.
I like to explore old railroad beds. Sometimes they still have rails, usually not. The High Line gives you a taste of what I find when I go exploring. It's been "civilized" in that the creosoted ties are gone, replaced by non-cancer-causing pressure-treated "rails". They're not as big as real ties, and they don't have real spikes, and ...
But enough railfan whining. They've done a bang-up job simulating an abandoned railroad bed. Go. Enjoy it.
When in New York I highly recommend taking some time to check this out. Great views nice trails
Currently about 1/4 of it is closed due to construction but I went this weekend for the first time and the view was great, it wasn't overly crowded, there are small food kiosks and random sidelined quiet entertainment. Overall I enjoyed my walk on the high line.
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