Queens is laid out so that a person can walk most of the way across it without leaving parkland, and on Saturday, Nov. 7, NYC Parks' Urban Park Rangers will lead a group that does exactly that. The Queens County Parks Super Hike covers 15 miles in one day, starting at the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park at 9 a.m. and finishing at Fort Totten Park on Little Neck Bay around 3 p.m.

The route

Between the two ends, the hike passes through Kissena Park, Cunningham Park and Alley Pond Park. According to NYC Parks, the route stays almost entirely on parks property, which is possible because of the way the borough's parks connect.

Much of that connection is the Kissena Corridor. The city assembled it in the early 1950s along the route of a former railroad line that ran from Flushing toward Babylon, and it now links Flushing Meadows Corona, Kissena, Alley Pond and Cunningham Parks in a 2,816-acre, 4.5-mile chain of parkland that the Parks Department calls an emerald necklace. Inside Cunningham Park the walkers will also be near the old Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, a 1908 private toll road that is now a tree-lined path.

Who leads it and what it costs

The Urban Park Rangers are the Parks Department's naturalists and educators, and their hikes mix the walking with talk about the forests, wildlife and history along the way. The Super Hike is free. Registration is required and is open now through NYC Parks' online event registration; it closes on the day of the hike. The rangers advise hikers to dress warmly and wear hiking shoes. Questions go to the rangers at 718-846-2731.

Planning the day

Fifteen miles over six hours is a full day on your feet, so bring water, food and layers for a November morning that can start cold. The meeting point is the Unisphere, a short walk from the Mets-Willets Point stop on the 7 train. Because the hike ends in Fort Totten Park in Bayside rather than back at the start, work out your ride home before you set out.

Another reason to come back Sunday

The next afternoon, Sunday, Nov. 8, Flushing Meadows Corona Park hosts a free artist talk with the two winners of this year's Art in the Parks grant from the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The walk starts at 1 p.m. at David Dinkins Circle, where Alexander Zev will discuss his sculpture Understory, and ends around 2 p.m. at Ederle Terrace with Cecile Chong and her installation Held & Holding. The grant funds new, site-responsive work by New York City artists.

The Super Hike leaves the Unisphere at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7. Register through the NYC Parks event page before you go.

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