Prospect Park: Your guide to Brooklyn’s largest park

Find the best things to do in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, plus free concerts, walking tours and nearby date spots.

By Time Out editors Wed Jun 6 2012

After Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux unveiled Central Park in 1859, they turned their attention south to create the bucolic 585-acre Prospect Park in Brooklyn. There's plenty of room on the Long Meadow and Nethermead to bliss out on a patch of grass, while the Ravine, a towering indigenous forest, offers a woodland respite that's unparalleled in the borough. City planner Robert Moses was behind 20th-century additions like the Prospect Park Zoo and the bandshell, where Celebrate Brooklyn! hosts free top-notch concerts all summer long. The Lakeside complex, due in fall 2013, looks to be the cherry on top of one of the world's greatest urban oases.

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Prospect Park, Long Meadow, autumn
Prospect Park

Prospect Park
Prospect Park
Prospect Park

Geese in Prospect Park
Photograph: Wendy Connett

Prospect Park
Grand Army Plaza
Photograph: Wendy Connett

Prospect Park
Photograph: Wendy Connett

Prospect Park
Photograph: Wendy Connett

Prospect Park
Prospect Park
Photograph: Noah Fecks

Long Meadow Dog Beach in Prospect Park
Photograph: Pat Young

Prospect Park

Yoga in Prospect Park
Photograph: Prospect Park Alliance

Prospect Park

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Twilight Tours
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Lefferts House

Prospect Park

Lefferts Historic House Museum

Prospect Park, Long Meadow, autumn

Prospect Park information

Prospect Park

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Urban visionaries Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who most famously designed Central Park, also put their stamp on bucolic Prospect Park. Amenities like the Long Meadow and Nethermead offer plenty of space to pull up on a patch of grass and indulge in some people-watching, and the woodland expanse of the Ravine is a towering forest within bustling Brooklyn. But we also have to give props to Robert Moses: The controversial city planner was behind some of the park’s kid-friendly offerings, including the zoo and Wollman Rink (which is currently undergoing an extensive renovation).