Nature lovers can now enjoy a new network of trails in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

They're designed to take visitors through the borough's newly designated old growth forest.

"It's miraculous that this forest is here"

The sounds of crickets and birdsong aren't what most expect to hear in a borough of millions. But in Prospect Park, the forest still sings as it has for generations, just steps away from the ever-present bustle of the city.

"Here I am in the middle of Brooklyn, and it feels like you're completely alone in this park," said Lois Nesbitt, who was walking through the woodlands.

On Friday, park officials and volunteers cut the ribbon on a multi-year effort to launch Prospect Park's first nature trail system. The five scenic routes wind under an expansive forest canopy.

"They've created, largely with volunteer effort, an amazing system of trails that take you to these sort of quiet, relaxing places in the park and really gets you to experience nature firsthand," said Marty Maher, Brooklyn Commissioner for New York City Parks.

The ceremony also formally designated the woodlands as Brooklyn's own "old growth forest," part of a national network of significant forests worthy of recognition.

"Old urban forests are in many ways the most unlikely old forests in existence. It's miraculous that this forest is here," said Sarah RobbGrieco, northeast regional manager of the Old-Growth Forest Network.

Officials hoping to help forest thrive

The trails cut through the park's 350 acres of woodlands, including the largest and oldest uplands forest in Brooklyn.

Morgan Monaco, president of the Prospect Park Alliance, said the group partnered with the city's Parks Department to create the new trails from a mix of official paths and visitor-created "desire lines," informal routes where people were already walking.

"When people make a road by walking it, that can sometimes damage the forest. So we decided to sort of be very strategic and create paths where we had seen people had been going and really formalize them," Monaco said.

The canopy is made up largely of native tree species, which park officials say help the forest recover from last year's wildfires and resist future flames.

"Our goal is to make sure that the forest thrives and that we restore and conserve the forested land to make sure that future generations have access to these beautiful natural areas," said Leila Mougoui Bakhtiari, the Prospect Park Alliance's director of landscape management.

Hidden among the city's steel structures, something wild has endured. Where buildings rise, trees once stood, and in Prospect Park, they still do.

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