Croton Point Park

The park today

Croton Point Park covers 508 acres on a peninsula jutting into the Hudson River at the mouth of the Croton River. A park road loops out to picnic groves, ballfields, a cricket pitch, playgrounds, pavilion shelters and two rentable lodges (Senasqua Lodge and Kitchawan Recreation Hall). The park has a swimming beach on the river (open weekends and holidays in season), a year-round campground with tent sites, RV sites and cabins, a car-top boat launch, fishing access, and the Croton Point Nature Center. The capped landfill rises as an open grass hill with wide Hudson River views; mowed paths cross it and shoreline trails ring the point. Restroom buildings operate mid-April through October, with portable toilets off-season. The park hosts large annual events including the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival and Teatown's Hudson River EagleFest.

History

Archaeologists have uncovered oyster-shell middens on Croton Point that are the oldest on the North Atlantic coast, evidence of Native American habitation going back roughly 7,000 years. The Kitchawank, a tribe of the Wappinger Confederacy, maintained a fortified village called Navish on the flat at the neck of the point; the name Croton derives from the sachem Kenoten ("wild wind").

Cornelius Van Bursum bought the point from its Native inhabitants in 1682, and William and Sarah Teller later ran a trading post there — for most of the colonial era the peninsula was known as Teller's Point. In September 1780, American militia on the point fired on the British sloop-of-war Vulture, the ship that had carried Major John André to his meeting with Benedict Arnold; the Vulture dropped downriver, forcing André to return overland, where he was captured. A memorial to the defense of Teller's Point stands at the southern end of the park.

Robert T. Underhill acquired the point in 1804. His son Richard planted vineyards and made wine that appeared on the menu of New York's Astor House, while his son William ran two steam-powered brickyards employing several hundred workers. The brick-vaulted Underhill wine cellars survive on the southern portion of the point.

Westchester County bought the point on July 2, 1923 and opened part of it as a park. From 1927 to 1986 the county also operated a landfill on the peninsula. A remediation project begun in 1992, at a reported cost of about $40 million, sealed roughly 113 acres under a geosynthetic cap; the capped mound was seeded in the 1990s and is now managed as an approximately 85-acre grassland overlooking the river.

Camping

The campground offers tent sites (maximum 6 people and 3 tents per site, no electric), RV sites with water/electric or full hookups, and standard and deluxe cabins (deluxe cabins include a bathroom; cabins rent Tuesday–Sunday by the week). The entire campground is closed in January and February; RV sites open at the beginning of March and tent and cabin rentals begin mid-May. 2026 rates: tent sites $40/night ($225/week) with a Westchester Park Pass, $60/night ($325/week) without; RV sites $45–$50/night with pass, $60–$65 without; cabins $250–$310/week with pass, $350–$500 without. Reservations are taken by the park office at (914) 862-5290 starting in January for the coming season.

The beach

The river beach operates on a lifeguarded schedule set each year by the county. For the 2026 season it is open Saturdays, Sundays and holidays only, from May 23 through Labor Day (September 7), 11 a.m.–6:30 p.m. with no admittance after 6 p.m. Beach admission is charged separately from parking: $5 for Park Pass holders and their guests ($3 for children 3–11 and for seniors with a Senior Park Pass), $10 for visitors without a pass; children 2 and under are free. Pets are not allowed at the beach.

Eagle season

Bald eagles winter along this stretch of the Hudson, and the point is a well-known viewing spot in January and February. Teatown Lake Reservation holds its annual Hudson River EagleFest at the park each winter; the 22nd annual festival was held here on February 14, 2026, with spotting scopes, live raptor shows and educational exhibits.

Visiting

Hours

Park open daily 8 a.m. to dusk, year-round. Beach open weekends and holidays in season, 11 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Campground closed January and February.

Fees

Parking $5 with a Westchester County Park Pass, $10 without; collected weekends only in May and September and daily from May 23 through Labor Day (Sept. 7, 2026). Seniors with a Senior Park Pass pay $1 on weekdays. Beach admission is separate: $5 with a pass ($3 children 3–11 and seniors), $10 without. Camping, pavilion and lodge rentals carry their own fees; park entry is otherwise free.

Parking

Lots at the beach, picnic areas, ballfields and campground off the main park road. Fee booth at the entrance operates in season; buses $50, mini-buses $20.

Getting there

Entrance at 1A Croton Point Avenue, off the Route 9/9A interchange. From the village, take South Riverside Avenue to Croton Point Avenue. The entrance is just west of the Croton-Harmon Metro-North station and is walkable from the station along Croton Point Avenue.

Rules

Dogs must be leashed; service animals welcome. County rules set a six-foot maximum leash and a limit of three dogs per person, and bar dogs from picnic areas and playgrounds; pets are not allowed at the beach. Unauthorized motor vehicles, including electric bikes and scooters, are prohibited. Drones and other model aircraft are prohibited in Westchester County parks. Swimming only in season at the guarded beach.

Accessibility

Trails

• Croton Point loop trails — A network of mowed and gravel paths circles the capped-landfill meadow and reaches the Nature Center at Enoch's Nose. The county's 2026 trail map marks the routes but does not name them; the full circuit of the point is about 3.7 miles.

In this park

Links

• Official county park page
• Park fees (parking, camping, rentals)
• County pool and beach schedules
• County camping information
• Teatown Hudson River EagleFest