Croton Gorge Park — Attraction in Town of Cortlandt

This dam is an engineering marvel in its own right, it makes Croton Gorge Park in Westchester County a must-visit spot in the Hudson Valley, and it's just an hour away from NYC, on the east side of the Hudson River.

Gorgeous views, an open area to run/play, a playground, hiking trails, picnic tables, Kayaking, places to fish, and grills. Great for photos. The park is great for year-round events and activities from family gatherings, dates, and outings with friends. There is parking, a large grass space where you can BBQ, and most importantly some nice and easy walking trails.

A fence keeps you from getting too close to the waterfall, though the views from behind it are quite good and you can walk pretty close to the edge of the falls. we have seen wedding photos shoot, a man going down on his knees, and other lifetime events.

The park’s historic dam holds billions of gallons of drinking water for New York City. It is a seriously impressive dam and waterfall. In fact, the New Croton Dam is 297 feet tall and 2,188 feet long. At the time of its completion (around 1910) , it was the tallest dam in the world. Above the waterfall, there is a tall bridge that spans the top of the waterfall and continues across the dam. you can go to the top by car, park nearby and then within walking distance of the bridge and then you can see the other side of the dam.

Fun Fact-1: This reservoir is used for drinking water in New York City.

Fun Fact-2: Some say that this is the third-largest hand-hewn stone structure in the world after the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Giza (I read about it while my research- the reviewer is not responsible if its not true :P )

Fee: $10 for the car (in summer) but if you visit during the off-season, there is no charge.

If you live in the NYC area and have a car, I highly recommend you check out New Croton Dam and plan...

Great park that I have visited many times and only about an hour away from the city. There are minimal fees to enter usually from Memorial Day through Labor Day of about $5-10 per vehicle. Most recently I visited during the COVID pandemic. ON a nice Thursday, the main parking lots filled up by about 1 PM, but they allowed people to park on the grass which was great. There are lots of open spaces in the park so there is a lot of room for crowds to gather without having to worry about interfering with each other. There are paths and trails leading down to the river area at the bottom of the waterfall. There are also trails leading in and around the surrounding wooded area. The highlight of the park of course is the waterfall, which is a sight to behold. There isn't anything else like it in the lower New York area. I would highly suggest people from NYC to take the one-hour drive up here to visit it. The views of the waterfall from the park area great, but for some phenomenal views of the waterfall and hudson river from above, I suggest taking the Croton Dam Road path to the closed the closed bridge on top which is now a walkway. Set your navigation to the intersection of Quaker Ridge Road and Croton Dam Road and make the turn onto Croton Dam Road which will lead you to the southeast side of the closed bridge where you can park along the side of the road and take a walk on the bridge. You can also set your navigation to the intersection of Croton Dam Road and Route 129 (Old Yorktown Road) and turn onto Croton Dam Road to the northwest side of the bridge. You can park along the side of the road and walk...

Well, when you have a chance to go to such a wonderful picnic spot with friends and family and that too