Above: Alligator relic

What is this world if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare"
- W H Davies

So many walkers have called or written to say how much they treasure the trail especially through this difficult time. Please take the time to look around you as you walk. A visual treasure is there!

Buttercups. “Do you like butter?”

Culvert in Sleepy Hollow section

Over several days during the holiday week of 2019-2020, I was inspired to achieve a goal that I have often thought about: walking the entire 41-mile length of the Old Croton Aqueduct historic trail. Although there are certain sections of the park that I frequently visit, large swaths were, up to this point, unknown to me. It was a real pleasure to finally get out and see what the rest of the Aqueduct trail has to offer! I was not disappointed by my discoveries!

Hello all: we would like to keep the Aqueduct trail park open, but this can only happen with your cooperation. Please observe social distancing rules, or the Park may have to close as has been done in New Jersey.

We regret to announce that the Old Croton Aqueduct Keepers House will be closed until further notice.  But don't forget the Trail is always open! 

(Courtesy of our Friends at Teatown in Ossining)

With children staying home from school in the coming weeks, we wanted to share some family-friendly outdoor activities with our community as we practice social distancing:

As history would have it, some designers are broadly associated with their works, like Frederick Law Olmsted with Central Park or John B. Jervis with the Old Croton Aqueduct. John James Robertson Croes was not one of those, yet many of us live in a more beautiful environment because of his talents.

Croes was born in 1834 in Richmond, Virginia, son of a clergyman and grandson of a Revolutionary War veteran. He attended the College of St James in Hagerstown, Maryland, and studied civil engineering, graduating in 1853.

The new Invasives Removal Squad of the Irvington Green Policy Task Force (GPTF) held an event called Thank Nature Day on December 1, 2019. In collaboration with the Hastings Vine Removal Squad, the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct (Friends), and the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, two dozen volunteers came out on a chilly day to help remove and prune invasive plants and clean up litter along the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail (OCA), between Main Street and Matthiessen Road.

A Dedicated Friend, Peter Bakwin wrote this entry about jogging the entire length of the Old Croton Aqueduct (41 miles!)

I grew up in Colorado but spent summers visiting my grandparents at their sprawling Westchester home. There were woods to explore, a lake to swim in, and many cousins for companions. Years later, when I started running ultramarathons, I felt an urge to run from that house, now owned by my father, into New York City. The house is just a few miles from the Croton Reservoir, so the Old Croton Aqueduct was the obvious route.

Our very own Diane Alden did a presentation at November 15's event at the New York Botanical Garden.

You can view the video here:

If you want to delve further into the history of the Old Croton Aqueduct, which lies just below the trail that winds through these river towns, head to a new exhibit that opened recently at the Keeper’s House Visitor Center on the trail in Dobbs Ferry.