The Ravine in Central Park - And the Huddlestone Arch

[Edward]

Description from http://www.centralparknyc.org/

Visitors will feel they have been transported to the Adirondacks, but they have simply come to a piece of man-made scenery where Nature rules. Under the forest canopy of the Ravine, the City's skyline is nowhere to be seen and the continual din of traffic recedes against the rushing sound of a hidden waterfall and the chatter of birds.

The Ravine, the only stream valley in the Park, is part of the 90-acre woodland in the Upper Park called the North Woods. It is bounded to the north and south by two rustic arches – Huddlestone and Glen Span. The Loch, a stream that flows beside the pathway under both bridges, is dammed at several places to create the cascades you hear as you stroll through the Ravine.

Stop for a moment to study Huddlestone Arch. This picturesque piece of architecture was built without the help of mortar or metal supports. Constructed of immense boulders weighing from 1 to 20 tons found near the site, it looks as though a natural cataclysm happened to deposit them in this form. One boulder, a 20-ton behemoth, was moved a short distance to form part of the base. How did they do it? The Park's Annual Report from 1858 tells us that Olmsted was authorized to employ house movers to move "rocks" whenever he thought it was advisable.

The northwest slope of the Ravine is a true deciduous forest of oak, hickory, maple, and ash. The forest floor is covered with leaf litter, deadwood, and herbaceous plants, such as white wood aster, Allegheny spurge, and woodland goldenrod. From the trail, visitors have a bird's-eye view of the central part of the Loch. Designed by Olmsted and Vaux as a long narrow lake (Loch is the Scottish word for lake) it has over the past century reverted to its pre-Park form as a stream. The thickets growing on the islands of accumulated silt attract a wide variety of birds, including the rarely seen glossy ibis.

Another birding locale is the tall grass and wildflower meadow on the Ravine's southeastern slope. The meadow is at its most glorious in the late summer and fall. Cone flower, cup plant, and bee balm mixed in with a variety of goldenrods, asters, and native grasses set the hillside ablaze with color.  




There are five manmade waterfalls hidden within the Ravine, one of Central Park's best kept secrets.





Huddlestone Arch built without mortar or metal support.