Brooklyn Bridge Walk via Manhattan is a 2.4 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near New York City, New York that features a river and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for walking and running. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
This is a fun and scenic walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn across one of the country's most famous bridges. This can be a crowded or mellow stroll across the East River. Drink vendors line the bridge, which can be helpful in warm, humid weather. To your right, you can spy the Statue of Liberty in the distance, along with dozens of boats and helicopters. To your left is the Manhattan Bridge. Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was originally designed by German civil engineer John Augustus Roebling. The bridge's construction became a family affair, when Roebling fell ill and enlisted his adult son, Washington, to lead the project. Not long after Washington assumed the charge of the bridge did he also need to pass the baton after he suffered permanent physical damage while working in the sealed underwater foundations for the two towers (an ailment known as caisson disease, decompression sickness or more commonly "the bends"). Washington put his wife Emily in charge, and for more than a decade she managed the day-to-day operations of the bridge construction, bringing instructions from her bed-ridden husband to the job site and updates back to him. She became highly knowledgable about the engineering intricacies of the bridge, impressing politicians and other engineers with her capabilities and leadership. In the official opening ceremony, on May 24, 1883, Emily was the first person to cross the bridge.
Brooklyn Bridge history, facts and pictures http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/brooklyn/ Brooklyn Bridge Park http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/
Bring water, especially on a hot day. Finding the entrance and exit to the bridge is not obvious. These POIs and map should help.
There are several approaches to the route by subway: To start in Brooklyn, take the A or C line to High Street Brooklyn Bridge, or the F line to the York Street station (by the Manhattan bridge). To start in Manhattan, take the 4,5, or 6 line to the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station.
It’s a pretty easy trail. Please be mindful of the speeding bikes on one lane. Stick on only to the pedestrian side. There are some good artists with amazing work on the bridge. If you’re walking from Manhattan side, do not look back until you reach the middle of the bridge. When you look back at that point, the skyline will surprise you.
Did this walk counterclockwise early in the morning and got some incredible views of the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise. I'd walked across the bridge before and was pleased that going this time of the day beat the crowds. If you do this on foot, be careful not to stray into the bike lanes on the Brooklyn bridge. The bike path on the Manhattan Bridge is separate from the walking path. Noise on both bridges can be pretty intense, but that's New York.
Overrated, as far as bridge walks go. It’s worth going once to say you did it (it is a beautiful bridge and historically significant) and it isn’t a long walk. If you’re walking from Manhattan you can stop at Brooklyn Bridge Park once you’re finished and rest with great views and an awesome ice cream place by the water taxi (if it’s still in business), which is also an option if you don’t feel like walking back over. Overall it’s overcrowded and full of cyclists who don’t stay in their lane. I recommend the Williamsburg Bridge walkway instead - far less crowded with a wider walkway and with just as nice views (and more space to enjoy them) and covered in interesting and downright weird graffiti. You’re more likely to meet some stranger people on this bridge (I was once catcalled by a guy selling water bottles in the summer) but nothing that ever made me feel unsafe. You also get to watch subways go on their merry way from above, which is a cool view you don’t get to see all the time!