The Croton Aqueduct trail in NYC from the Bronx: How to find it!© Joseph Pucci
Feb 28, 1997
A reasonably southern entrance point is off 242nd and
Broadway in the Bronx -- get off the subway (or off Broadway if you
rode there) and go East into the park, you'll pass under a bridge
that carries the Putnam line right-of-way, then go left 100 feet
and you'll find the remains of the Van Cortlandt Park platform. From
here, it's smooth sailing into Yonkers. There are a handful of
discontinuities -- be sure to take your Hagstrom maps with you.
The only nasty one in Yonkers is where you find a rubble blockade.
Go out around the car wash and ride north on 9a and take the next left
back to the right-of-way. There's another blockade at the Ardsley
Motel -- go around the motel and visualize where the line should be
and you'll find it (you can even see the old telegraph poles where
the motel "annexed" the railroad property. From there, you have a
continuous but difficult run to Tarrytown Lakes, then pavement for
a mile or so but then a missing segment until route 117, then
pavement up to the Croton Reservoir, then you've got the seriously
broken down railroad bridge (you might want to ride on Route 100
instead of playing tightrope with your bicycle on it), then you've
got serious mud and swamp into Yorktown Heights, after which you've
got maintained trail to the Westchester County line, and perhaps
beyond, at least part of the way to Brewster. Croton Aqueduct -- entrance is also in Van Cortlandt Park. You can
find it from East 233rd and Jerome Avenue -- follow the signs for
I-87 South, hop onto the entrance ramp's sidewalk, climb into the
park trail, follow it past the golf course to an intersection, take
a right on the straight path -- that's the Aqueduct. The Aqueduct is
so seriously discontinuous in spots that you'll need a map -- but this
is your lucky day. Take a visit to http://www.hudsonriver.com/halfmoonpress... where you can get a detailed map of the trail for $4.50. The map was prepared by the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, I hear the detail is very good. You can find ride leaders on an occasional basis for these trails -- one from the Bronx along the Croton Aqueduct trail to the Croton Dam, and other times from the Bronx along the Putnam Line trail to Ardsley, then back on the Croton trail to the Bronx. To find out when the next ride is with a lead Either stay tuned to ebikes news letters, at http://www.panix.com/~fivebbc/, the next ride might be in March or April or keep your eye on the Five Borough Bicycle Club and/or Transportation Alternatives newsletters, both are at http://www.panix.com/~fivebbc/.
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I was bicycling home by an indirect route, crossed the Harlem River to Fordham Road, climbed the hill and unexpectedly encountered the Old Croton Aqueduct running south along the ridge. I didn't know ...
-- posted by Jim_Henderson
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This is an excellent little article, but it misses the question how to get on the Old Croton Aqueduct from The Bronx. Instead it's more about the Old Putnam Railroad, a topic worthy of its own Web pa ...
-- posted by Jim_Henderson
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Hey, this is delightful. I've been writing reviews of New York and suburban bike trails in my own little BBS, The Double Helix at 212-956-8076 and was wondering if there's a place to publish them mor ...
-- posted by Jim_Henderson
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