A Xiaomi or Ninebot scooter, a helmet, a lock and the route map our own guides use. No group, no schedule, no guide talking — just six car-free miles and a motor that makes the north end of the park a genuine option.
All four in the price. None of them appears as an extra line at the counter.
Charged overnight and checked every morning. Not whatever was cheapest to buy in bulk.
Five minutes on the forecourt before you go anywhere. Most people have never ridden one.
Cancel or move up to 24 hours before and get everything back. No form, no argument.
This is a smaller market than bike rental and the pricing is less transparent for it. The cheap end usually charges for the helmet and adds a damage waiver at the final screen; the expensive end is charging you for a lobby. Here’s the whole picture, including the part that isn’t in our favour.
BOOKED HERE
scooter
$30 first hour
$60 for three
$70 for five
Charged and checked that morning, helmet, lock and route map in the price, five minutes of practice before you leave, and a number that reaches a person.
Your total
three hours · per scooter · one rider each
per scooter
Enough for the southern park and a stop at Bethesda. The right call if the park is one line on a busy day.
per scooter · $14 an hour
Only ten dollars more than three hours, which makes it the cheapest hour you’ll buy all day. Ride the park twice and take lunch in the middle.
per scooter
The one that actually fits Central Park. Ride the full six-mile loop, stop properly at all five marked places, and still have time at the waterfalls.
MOST BOOKED
One, two, three and five hour rentals run daily — two hours is $50. Prices are per scooter and one rider per scooter is a hard rule. Riders must be 16 or over, and an adult has to sign the waiver for anyone under 18. Want somebody in front who knows the park? The guided tour is $69 and includes the scooter.
Most rental shops hand you a folded tourist map and wish you luck. Ours marks the five places worth stopping at, in order, so three hours doesn’t turn into a lap and a shrug.
In at Columbus Circle and onto the West Drive. Ride counter-clockwise; everybody does and it’s easier.
PHOTO STOP
The Angel of the Waters, and an arcade ceiling of hand-made tiles most visitors walk under without looking up.
Cast iron from 1862, rowboats underneath and the skyline over the treeline. The photograph you came for.
PHOTO STOP
PHOTO STOP
The Imagine mosaic, usually with somebody singing, then the Dakota directly across the street.
The best skyline in the park, doubled in the water, and turtles on the rocks at the south gatehouse.
PHOTO STOP
PHOTO STOP
A body of water, not a swimming pool. Hidden falls in the North Woods, and almost nobody up here.
Down the East Drive past the Met and out at 59th. Allow forty minutes for the last stretch.
All of it is marked on the map in your bag, along with restrooms, water fountains and where you can leave a scooter locked. Scooters ride on the park drives, which are closed to cars — not on the footpaths or the bridle path. Park rules on motorised devices do change; your confirmation email carries the current position.
In at Columbus Circle and onto the West Drive. Ride counter-clockwise; everybody does and it's easier.
The Angel of the Waters, and an arcade ceiling of hand-made tiles most visitors walk under without looking up.
Cast iron from 1862, rowboats underneath and the skyline over the treeline. The photograph you came for.
The Imagine mosaic, usually with somebody singing, then the Dakota directly across the street.
The best skyline in the park, doubled in the water, and turtles on the rocks at the south gatehouse.
A body of water, not a swimming pool. Hidden falls in the North Woods, and almost nobody up here.
Down the East Drive past the Met and out at 59th. Allow forty minutes for the last stretch.
The Pool, the Loch and the North Woods waterfalls sit about three miles from the Merchants’ Gate entrance. On foot that’s most of a day, which is why the vast majority of visitors never see them and leave thinking Central Park is the bit around Bethesda. With a motor under you it’s fifteen minutes, and it’s the emptiest, prettiest part of the whole thing.
or call +1 (929) 483-7420
Plenty of people haven’t been on a bike in twenty years and would rather it stayed that way. A scooter takes about five minutes to learn, holds you upright at walking pace, and stops with a lever. Same six miles, same views, none of the knees or the saddle.
or call +1 (929) 483-7420
Ninety degrees and humid turns a park this size into an ordeal on foot and a shower you didn’t plan for on a bike. Standing still while a motor does the work generates its own breeze, and you arrive at the Reservoir looking like someone who wants their picture taken. Bring water and sunscreen — there’s no basket, so pack a backpack.
or call +1 (929) 483-7420
The trouble with a guided tour is that it moves when the guide moves. Rent instead and the itinerary is yours — twenty minutes on the terrace steps if you want them, an hour at the waterfalls, lunch by The Pool, back whenever. Three hours is what most people take and almost nobody regrets.
or call +1 (929) 483-7420
Golden hour in Central Park lasts about ninety minutes and the best vantage points are miles apart. A scooter covers that ground faster than anything else you’re allowed to ride here, and unlike a tour you can stand at each one for as long as the light holds rather than as long as a group allows.
or call +1 (929) 483-7420
Made up before you arrive and easy to carry. Eat it waterside at The Pool, near the waterfalls.
Handlebar-mounted, so you can follow the map or film the ride without holding anything.
Added at booking, cheaper than extending on the day. Most people wish they’d taken it.
Any rental, any amount, delivered by email in about a minute. No expiry inside a year.
Add any of these at checkout, or tell us on the phone and we’ll have it ready before you arrive. Picnic bags need 24 hours’ notice; phone mounts are limited in number and go first on weekends.
One block from Columbus Circle and about ninety seconds from the Merchants’ Gate entrance — so you’re on a car-free drive almost immediately rather than negotiating traffic to get to the park. The practice run happens on the forecourt outside.
A B C D 1
59th St–Columbus Circle · 3 min walk
N R W
57th St–7th Ave · 4 min walk
F
57th St · 6 min walk
BUS
M5 M7 M10 M20 to 58th St
Bags can be left at the shop while you ride, free. Scooters return to the same address — there’s no drop-off point inside the park. Running late on a return? Call the desk on +1 (929) 483-7420 rather than racing back.
No — most people renting one haven’t. There’s a five-minute practice run on the forecourt before you go anywhere, covering throttle, brake, turning and stopping. If you still don’t feel steady at the end of it, say so and we’ll refund you rather than send you into the park.
Sixteen, with photo ID. Anyone under 18 needs an adult present to sign the waiver — not a photo of a signature, not a phone call. It’s the most common reason a rental is turned away at the door, so bring the adult.
No licence is required, but you do need photo ID to rent, and a card for the deposit hold. A photo of your passport on your phone isn’t accepted — bring the document itself.
On the park drives, which have been closed to cars since 2018 — so the whole loop is car-free road. Scooters aren’t permitted on the pedestrian paths or the bridle path, which is why the map marks where to park up and walk. Rules on motorised devices in city parks do change; your confirmation carries the current position.
Speed is limited by the machine, and you’ll be moving at a comfortable jogging pace most of the time. Range comfortably covers the six-mile loop several times over — the scooters are charged overnight and the five-hour rental doesn’t run one flat.
No. One rider per scooter, always. Doubling up is both illegal and the most common cause of injury on these machines, so it’s refused at the counter and on the drive.
A backpack, because there’s no basket — water, sunscreen and snacks all travel on your back. Flat closed shoes. And a phone, since the five marked stops are the sort of thing people photograph. Bags you don’t want to carry stay at the shop.
A lock comes with every rental and the map marks where scooters can be left, including near Bethesda and Strawberry Fields. Lock it to something fixed, take anything loose with you, and don’t block a path.
Call the number on your rental slip. We’ll come to you inside the park or swap the machine at the shop, at no charge. It’s rare — everything is charged overnight and checked each morning — but the north end is three miles from the gate and nobody should be pushing a scooter back.
Cancel or move free of charge up to 24 hours before. If the forecast turns on the day, call us — we’d rather move you than have you ride in it. We close the counter for heavy rain or ice, because wet brakes and small wheels are a poor combination, and prepaid rentals are refunded in full.
265lb per rider, set by the manufacturer rather than by us. It affects braking distance on the downhills, so it isn’t a limit we can bend.
Daily from March to November. Through the winter we run on dry days only and confirm the morning of your rental — cold, damp road surfaces and small wheels don’t get on. The bare canopy does give you the best skyline views of the year, so it’s worth asking.
The same machines with someone in front who knows the park and does the talking. Riders 18 and over.
Cheaper, no age restriction to speak of, and child seats and trailers available. You pedal.
Less ground, far more detail, and no waiver to sign. Departs daily at noon.
One, two, three and five hour rentals daily from West 58th Street. Scooter, helmet, lock and route map in the price, riders 16 and over, and free cancellation right up to 24 hours before.
