Best dates for: Getting back to nature

Alley Pond Park, Queens
Pack a lunch and promise your date some swinging (not like that, perv). Hop on the subway to Union Turnpike in Queens and get the Q46 bus to Winchester Boulevard and Grand Central Parkway to leave the city behind in the 150 acres of Alley Pond Park. Get there early on a Sunday for the free 10:30am session on the Adventure Course, which features a zip-line, climbing wall, balance platforms and, you guessed it, swings. After all that excitement, break out your picnic and grill in the nearby barbecue area before walking hand in hand through the many trails.

Prospect Park
Fuel up on brunch outside at the homey Farm on Adderley (1108 Cortelyou Rd between Stratford and Westminster Rds, Ditmas Park, Brooklyn; 718-287-3101, thefarmonadderley.com), where you’ll get your pick of locally sourced organic dishes. Then hoof it to Kensington Stables (51 Caton Pl at E 8th St, Park Slope, Brooklyn) for an hour’s trail ride through Prospect Park on a trusty steed ($37). Walk farther into the park for an hour on the water in a pedal boat at Wollman rink (Prospect Park, enter at Lincoln Rd and Ocean Ave; 718-287-6215 ext. 102, prospectpark.org; $16.25), then return to civilization on Bar 4’s comfy, worn-in sofas (444 Seventh Ave at 15th St, Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-832-9800).

Queens County Farm Museum
Take the rare opportunity to see where your food comes from at Queens County Farm Museum (73-50 Little Neck Parkway between 68th and 69th Aves, Floral Park, Queens; 718-347-3276, queensfarm.org; free except on special event days)—you may have bought the produce at the Union Square Greenmarket (and if you haven’t yet, you should). Wander round the tranquil agrarian environment and buy some feed ($3) to make friends with the pen-enclosed sheep and goats before having a good ol’ country style roll in the hay—we mean hayride ($2). Or, if you’re there after September 19, find a secluded spot in the three-acre Maize Maze.

Moonlight romance

Thrill-seeker

Foodie

Intellectual

Indier-than-thou

First dates

Naughty

Artsy

Nature

Touristy

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