Washington Heights Hotel near Fort Tryon Park
Clap eyes on some of the most splendid views in New York City while enjoying some lovely landscaping, a rich sense of history, and one of the country’s great museums on a visit to Fort Tryon Park, just a stone’s throw from your boutique Washington Heights accommodations here at the Edge Hotel.
Fort Tryon Park: Hallowed High Ground
The rocky Manhattan upland of Fort Tryon Park has gone by more than a few names across centuries of history. The indigenous Wiechquaesgeck people, an Eastern Algonquin tribe, called it Chquaesgeck, while the Dutch who settled the area by 1715 named it Long Hill (Lange Bergh). Its strategic height, then called Mount Washington, played a role in the Battle of Fort Washington during the American Revolutionary War; the British, who won that battle, named the high ground after the last British governor of New York, William Tryon.
In the 1910s, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. acquired the land and commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.—whose illustrious father had schemed up Central Park farther down Manhattan Island—and his Olmsted Brothers architectural firm to design a park to be donated to New York City.
The resulting greenspace, Fort Tryon Park, represents one of the Big Apple’s most beautiful spaces: a seminatural layout with outcrops, gardens, veteran elms, and splendid views over the Hudson River and to the overlooking cliffs of the Palisades on the New Jersey side.
Fort Tryon Park Gardens
Among the centerpieces of the original Olmsted Brothers plan for Fort Tryon Park are two magnificent gardenscapes. The three-acre Heather Garden harbors one of the greatest spreads of heath and heather varieties on the East Coast, with blooms throughout much of the year. A bouldery slope between Broadway and the Met Cloisters forms the wonderful Alpine Garden, which supports naturalistic plantings of rock-growing and high-elevation herbs.
The Met Cloisters
Fort Tryon Park provides the magnificent setting for a truly singular museum: the Met Cloisters, host to 2,000-plus pieces of medieval art. Its highlights include the world-famous “Unicorn Tapestries” from the late 15th and early 16th centuries, which evoke the hunt of a snow-white unicorn across seven huge and floridly detailed tapestries, as well as some exquisite medieval-style gardens.
Visit Fort Tryon Park During Your Stay at the Edge Hotel
From the up-close treasures of the Cloisters or the Heather Garden to sweeping views to the Palisades and the Lower Manhattan skyline, Fort Tryon Park is a wonderful destination year-round. Take advantage of your close proximity to this entrancing height on your next visit to Washington Heights and the Edge Hotel!