Statue of Liberty National Monument Highpoint Trip Report

Date: July 11, 2014
Author: Fred Lobdell

We took the ferry from Liberty State Park in New Jersey. This ferry, operated by a private contractor, costs $17 for most people and $14 for seniors. Before boarding we had to pass through an airport-like screening rigmarole: remove belts and watches, take everything out of our pockets, pass through a metal detector, etc... . The voyage itself was uneventful, although we did enjoy seeing a Caspian tern on the pilings as we departed.

Once on Liberty Island (which contains the high ground; Ellis Island is lower) we joined the crowd heading for the statue pedestal. There we were subjected to another screening and the same nonsense as previously. What a pain in the . . . anyway, it was a pain and a time waster getting a couple of hundred people through those proceedings. And we didn't even want to visit the pedestal! After the screening, we passed through a side gate and were able to walk around the second level ground. (The highest level, around the pedestal itself, was higher but also obviously artificial.) We might have been able to do this without passing through the second screening, but we weren't familiar with the routine.

We thank John Mitchler for his excellent and very comprehensive trip report. He felt that the highest natural ground was on the island's northwest side, but there is a second area on the opposite side that appears to be about as high. One can't be seen from the other as the statue is in between. When visiting, walk around the statue and form your own judgment.