Prospect Park was planned out, in the 1800′s, to be a place of natural beauty and wonder in the middle of the city. As the cities population exploded construction was taking place on some of the finest restaurants and best hotels, Manhattan however was losing space, open space, and the creation of parks such as Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Central Park in Manhattan, was a way to ensure that in the future, New Yorkers would have some where to go to escape the hectic city life, a bit of nature in the metropolis.
The well known designers of the park, Calvert Vaux and Frederick L. Olmsted were pioneers of their time. The Ravine is a section located in the center of the park, which at the time was a remote area with topographical challenges. They wanted to construct a man-made version of the outdoors that would resemble the look and the feel of wandering through the remote wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains. This land was one hundred and forty three acres of rugged space that needed to be cleared and shaped into the man-made wonder that it is today, complete with trails and a waterway running through it. Due to the thoughtful design and careful planning,Vaux and Olmsted managed to clear away the Ravine, while still maintaining the natural beauty, this does not look like nor feel like a human designed creation.
The mountain scenery and much of the natural landscape and forests remain, and it really does give one the impression that they are far away from the buses, the trains, the taxis and the skyscrapers. There is even a waterfall flowing into a swimming hole. For many years, this area become affected by years of over-use, with erosion threatening the Ravine. However, the Prospect Park Alliance stepped in as the always do, to restore it to its “natural” beauty, preserving it for the escape it has offered to so many people in the past, and the escape from the city hustle and bustle it will now provide for people in the years to come.