Highland Park, the park that holds the Ridgewood Reservoir on the border of Brooklyn and Queens, has three free ways to spend time outdoors in the first week of November: a ranger-led hike to find plants the Lenape used, a morning of hands-on forest restoration, and a free 5K every Saturday morning.

NYC Parks describes the park as sitting in the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn, close to East New York and Bushwick and to the Queens neighborhoods of Woodhaven, Ridgewood and Glendale. It is home to more than 150 species of birds.

Sunday, Nov. 1: Lenape Botany with the Urban Park Rangers

To open Native American Heritage Month, the Urban Park Rangers are leading a one-hour hike through a restored natural area of the park, looking for plants that the Lenape people have used since long before the city existed. Many of those plants, the Parks Department notes, still grow in city parks. The study of the healing properties of plants is thousands of years old, and the hike looks at both the past and present of Native American life in the area.

The hike runs from 11 a.m. to noon and meets at the Vermont Place parking lot, at Vermont Place and Highland Boulevard. It is free, and no registration is required. The rangers can be reached at 718-846-2731.

Friday, Nov. 6: Restoration Fridays

NYC Parks and The Forest Park Trust are running Restoration Fridays at Highland Park this fall. Volunteers spend the morning on hands-on forest work: pulling invasive species, restoring trails and possibly planting.

The session runs from 10 a.m. to noon and also meets at the Vermont Place parking lot. It is free, but advance registration is required through the event page. Wear sturdy closed-toe shoes and clothes you do not mind getting dirty.

Every Saturday: NYRR Open Run

New York Road Runners holds a free, community-led 5K in Highland Park every Saturday morning, including Halloween, October 31, and November 7. The run is open to runners and walkers of every age and ability. The run's time slot is 8:45 to 11 a.m., and the park entrance to use is at Cleveland Street and Jamaica Avenue. Runners sign up through NYRR; there is no charge.

The weekly run is part of the Open Run program NYRR operates in neighborhood parks across the city, and the Highland Park run is scheduled to continue weekly through 2029.

How to go

For the hike and the restoration morning, use the Vermont Place parking lot at Vermont Place and Highland Boulevard. For Open Run, enter at Cleveland Street and Jamaica Avenue. The J train runs along Jamaica Avenue below the park, with stops at Cleveland Street and Norwood Avenue. The Q56 bus also runs on Jamaica Avenue.

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