Bow Bridge & The Lake: Victorian Cast-Iron Grace

Why is it significant?

Walk up the gentle wooden approach and stand directly at the midpoint of Bow Bridge, resting your elbows on the ornate cast-iron balustrade. Spanning eighty-seven feet across The Lake, this exquisite bridge is named after its graceful resemblance to an archer's bow.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Walk up the gentle wooden approach and stand directly at the midpoint of Bow Bridge, resting your elbows on the ornate cast-iron balustrade. Spanning eighty-seven feet across The Lake, this exquisite bridge is named after its graceful resemblance to an archer's bow. Look down into the dark water where green rowboats drift lazy circles beneath your feet.

Completed in eighteen sixty-two during the heat of the Civil War, Bow Bridge was the very first cast-iron bridge constructed in Central Park and the second oldest in all of America. Calvert Vaux designed its interlocking scrolls, interlocking circles, and delicate morning-glory vines, which were cast at the historic Janes, Kirtland and Company foundry in the Bronx—the exact same iron foundry that cast the magnificent dome of the United States Capitol in Washington.

Look north across the lake toward the dense, tangled forest canopy. You are standing on the literal boundary line between two worlds: behind you lies the formal, manicured elegance of Bethesda Terrace, while ahead lies the wild, untamed wilderness of The Ramble.

Step off the far end of the bridge and step into the winding forest trails where Manhattan's street grid completely vanishes.