Governors Island National Monument Highpoint Trip Report

Date: July 11, 2014
Author: Fred Lobdell

This monument is reached by ferry from either Manhattan or Brooklyn. The ferry used to be free, but as of this year an outrageous round trip fare of $2 ($1 for us old guys) is being charged. If you're leaving from Manhattan as we did, your best approach is to take the #1 subway train to its end at South Ferry. Upon exiting into daylight, turn left past the Staten Island ferry terminal and look for small signs for the Governors Island ferry, which leaves from a much less substantial building.

We made the mistake of turning right, and by the time we realized the error of our ways, we had missed the ferry by a couple of minutes and had to wait an hour for the next one. However, we caught a break at the other end and managed to be the last two to board a ferry that was 7 minutes late departing on its return voyage.

We walked completely around the fort but concluded that it was all an artificial surface. As John Mitchler noted in his fine trip report, the highest natural (?) ground appears to be near the fort's entrance, on both sides of the walkway into the fort. These two areas sport sizable trees and appear to be relatively undisturbed.