Top 10 Must-See Highlights on the High Line

It’s high time you checked out Manhattan’s High Line! Whether it’s your first visit or your hundredth, this celebrated urban park—elevated 30 feet overhead, atop a historic, once-abandoned, and now wonderfully reinvented railroad trestle—proposes one of the city’s best green retreats. While following the nearly 1.5-mile stretch from start to finish (it runs from Gansevoort Street at its southern end to 34th Street at its northern edge), there are several High Line highlights to be on the lookout for. Here, are the 10 can’t-miss sights to see along this lofty promenade.

Tiffany & Co. Foundation Overlook

Where: Gansevoort St.

Marking the southernmost point of the park, the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Overlook proposes the perfect perch to survey the trendy Meatpacking District below and the Renzo Piano-designed Whitney Museum of American Art, just next door. The High Line’s balcony-capped terminus is also quite scenic to crane your neck toward from street level. Its dramatically severed edge was cut off here in the 90s; before that, the historic freight train line stretched further south still.

Surrounding Architecture

Where: Intermittently, along the park’s entire route

The buildings flanking the High Line create a unique urban “architectural forest” effect for park-goers who make a point of looking up often. Expect a nice mix of the old, in the form of old factory and warehouse buildings—like the 1890 Chelsea Market building, formerly a Nabisco factory (and the birthplace of the Oreo), which the High Line passes right through—along with new, featuring sleek and funky towers like The Standard, High Line hotel, designed by Ennead Architects and located at W. 13th St.; Frank Gehry’s IAC Building (W. 18th St.); and Jean Nouvel’s Chelsea Nouvel apartment tower (W. 19th St.).

Art Installations

Where: Intermittently, along the park’s entire route

Run by the Friends of the High Line, the High Line Art division commissions numerous public art projects on and around the High Line. Pieces change out regularly (the only permanent installation is The River That Flows Both Ways, an installation by Spencer Finch, at the Chelsea Street Passage), with most group exhibitions up for 10 to 12 months. For a list of the latest works on display, visit the official High Line art map.

Diller—von Furstenberg Sundeck & Water Feature

Where: Between W. 14th & W. 15th sts.

Kick up your feet at this relaxing stretch of the pathway, which offers reclining lounge chairs that roll on wheels along the old railroad track. Furthermore, a seasonal water feature invites a refreshing wade. It’s a prime spot to watch the sun set over the Hudson River, along with the constant parade of people passing by.

Chelsea Market Passage

Where: W. 15th St.

A former loading dock space for the old Nabisco factory that stands over it (now the site of Chelsea Market), this semi-enclosed bi-level section hosts several High Line-affiliated seasonal food carts and a seated outdoor café serving wine, beer, and light bites. Additionally, Spencer Finch’s installation, The River That Flows Both Ways, features colored panes depicting a study of the Hudson River.

Northern Spur Preserve

Where: W. 16th St.

Imagine what the untamed and overgrown High Line was once like before it achieved park status, and all of the meticulous landscaping that came with it. This offshoot, or spur, comes planted with crabapples, asters, sedges, goldenrods, and alumroot that once naturally occurred here during the rail line’s years of abandonment.

10th Avenue Square and Overlook

Where: W. 17th St.

Take a break on the wooden-step seating of this amphitheater-like nook, overlooking the traffic below on 10th Avenue. Just across the way, be sure to catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty.

23rd Street Lawn

Where: W. 23rd St.

The park’s sole green lawn is popular for seasonal picnics and hosts special park-led programs, stretching for a block between W. 22nd and W. 23rd streets; it typically remains open from May through September.

26th Street Viewing Spur

Where: W. 26th St.

A nod to the billboards that once served as street-level advertisements along the High Line, this empty frame now serves to frame the city instead. For passersby below in Chelsea, it alternatively functions as a living billboard, with High Line visitors serving as animated subjects.

Pershing Square Beams

Where: W. 30th St.

In the newest section of the park, the Pershing Square Beams area reveals a section of the railway’s original framework, featuring now-silicon-coated steel beams and girders. It’s an inviting space for children’s exploration, with a series of sunken areas perfect for climbing and playing, alongside various engaging play elements like a rotating beam and periscopes.