A Historic Park In New Jersey Offers Scenic Hudson River & George Washington Bridge Views

Sometimes the most spectacular views of New York City landmarks can be found across the river in New Jersey. One landmark that benefits from that vantage point is the George Washington Bridge, which spans the Hudson River, linking Upper Manhattan with the borough of Fort Lee, New Jersey. This 14-lane suspension bridge, a double-decker dating to 1931, is the world's busiest in terms of motor vehicles. The bridge is minutes by car from Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Zoo, and it can be impressive to see its 604-foot steel towers rising over the buildings on the river's New York side. To see it completely unobstructed, however, you'll want to cross the Hudson River to Fort Lee Historic Park.

Located atop a cliff overlooking the river, Fort Lee Historic Park is part of New Jersey's 12-mile-long Palisades Interstate Park. From the northern observation platform in this park-within-a-park, you'll have a sweeping, elevated view of the civil engineering feat that is the George Washington Bridge. There are benches where you can sit and admire the view as boats cruise by on the river. There are also coin-operated binoculars where you can survey the slow crawl of cars driving along both levels of the bridge into Manhattan.

It's such a good photo spot that pictures from here (like the one above) often serve as the classic representative shot of the bridge in the encyclopedia and other forms of media. That includes Tripadvisor reviews, where travelers call Fort Lee Historic Park the best place for an incredible view of the George Washington Bridge. Beyond the bridge, Fort Lee itself also has some interesting history behind it, beginning with the American Revolutionary War and continuing up through the 20th century with its role as the motion picture industry's birthplace, pre-Hollywood.

New York City is where George Washington was inaugurated as the first U.S. president, so it's no surprise that he lends his name to the GW Bridge or the Washington Heights neighborhood. The presidential victory offset Washington's greatest military defeat in New York during the Revolutionary War. That's where Fort Lee, originally called Fort Constitution, comes into play.

The fort arose in July 1776, the same month that the founding fathers (including Washington, then commander of the Continental Army) signed the Declaration of Independence. It was built to help defend the Hudson River while the British Royal Navy was gathering in New York Harbor. Today, its remnants in New Jersey sit across the water from those of Fort Washington, which eventually fell to the British and precipitated Fort Lee's abandonment in November 1776. Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense," was with the army at the fort before Washington ordered it to retreat. The experience inspired Paine's famous quote, "These are the times that try men's souls," first printed as the opening line in his influential pamphlet, "The American Crisis."

Fort Lee Historic Park's visitor center has exhibits with more information about its role in the Revolutionary War. At the park's southern end, there's also a reconstructed encampment with 18th-century huts for a soldier and officer, the latter of which features a working fireplace. The encampment includes a well, woodshed, oven, and blockhouse, along with a firing step, where soldiers would have aimed their muskets. Stroll along the park's edge, and you'll see cannon and mortar batteries looking out over the Hudson River, too. It can be particularly nice to walk around Fort Lee Historic Park when it's autumn and the trees are filled with colorful leaves.

Fort Lee's involvement in U.S. presidential history goes beyond George Washington. In the 2010s, it became the epicenter for a news scandal regarding the politically motivated shutdown of toll access lanes for the George Washington Bridge. The Bridgegate scandal was cited as a factor in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ending his 2016 presidential bid. As you scope out the bridge's steady traffic stream, just imagine how gridlocked Fort Lee was during Bridgegate.

At the Barrymore Film Center, you can learn more about how Fort Lee served as the birthplace of America's movie business circa the early 1900s, before Hollywood became the de facto capital. Among other things, it gave rise to the term "cliffhanger," thanks to serials shot on the steep New Jersey Palisades. Even the star of the movie, "Cliffhanger," Sylvester Stallone, was on location in Fort Lee for the filming of his 1997 crime drama, "Cop Land," featuring Harvel Keitel, Ray Liota, and Robert De Niro. The movie begins and ends with shots of the George Washington Bridge, and it's set in a fictional Jersey town where the bridge lets out, with Fort Lee providing the real-life geographical basis.

The Shore Trail below Fort Lee Historic Park will take you under the bridge to where Stallone's character stood gazing across the water at Manhattan. Fort Lee's riverside park isn't the only one in New Jersey where you can do that, either. Opposite Lower Manhattan, you can visit Liberty State Park for beautiful views of the New York City skyline. For its part, Fort Lee Historic Park is the first place outside New York where hikers can link up with the Long Path, the only backpacking route that starts at a Manhattan subway stop.