njs

We are driving to Liberty state park for a day trip.

2 questions:
1. Is is easy to get car parking on saturday morning? If yes what is the cost?

2. What are the attractions of this park? Is it worth spending a day there?

Thanks

tpatricco

Hi njs, I believe the parking is easy & free at Liberty State Park. You can take a Circle line ferry that takes you to Liberty Island, where the statue is and Ellis Island where the immigration museum is. Other than that, Liberty State Park is primarily just open spaces near the river where you can picnic, fly kites, rollerblade, etc. There may be a visitor's center near the ferry terminal, but I'm not sure. Liberty Science Center is right adjacent to the park as well, and would be a fun museum to visit with kids. They also have a nice IMAX theatre there.

Here's the links for the Park, the ferry & the science center.

http://www.nps.gov/stli/pphtml/planyourvisit.html
http://www.circlelinedowntown.com/
http://www.lsc.org/

islandboy81

1. I'm not too sure about the cost of parking though I believe someone once told me it was around $5. Not sure how full it gets though.

2. Probably the biggest reason most people go to Liberty State Park is to take the ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
There is also a historic train terminal at the park, which I think was used in the early 1900s.

There is a nice walkway along the river which provides a really nice view of the lower Manhattan skyline. I think there are also a couple nature trails.

If you have children there are a couple pretty big playgrounds and the Liberty Science Center is right around there as well (Like 5 minutes from the actual park).

Not sure if it is worth spending a whole day, really depends if the attractions interest you and how fast you go through them.

k_999_9

I doubt you'd want to spend the whole day at the park. However, if you combined it with the ferry trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (which I recommend), you could make a whole-day trip of it.

AHaugeto

Can't help you with the parking, as I've always taken the excellent light rail there... But I do recommend the Liberty Science Center even if you don't have kids. The IMAX is great (you can see what's playing on their website) and they constantly change some of their exhibits - when I was there last there was a pretty neat one on magic tricks. Maybe you could hit the Science Center when it opens, and then wander around and have a picnic lunch or dinner later, while watching all the lights come on in the city as the sun slowly sets. I think it's an impressive urban park, and a great place to take photos. Have a wonderful time!