Croton River Trails

The park today

These are not built trails. The paths along both banks of the lower Croton River are unmarked, unmaintained herd paths — steep in places, muddy in others — worn in by swimmers, anglers and paddlers heading to the water. On the village side they lead from the Silver Lake area downstream to Mayo's Landing, where the walk down to the river is steep; on the Cortlandt side, paths through the wooded Croton Gorge Unique Area formerly dropped from Quaker Bridge Road to the gorge, but that area is closed to the public until further notice. The banks in between pass village parkland, state land and private property with no signage distinguishing them.

The reward is a dam-fed river that stays cold and clear all summer, running through a wooded gorge minutes from the village. DEC stocks the first mile below the dam with rainbow and brook trout, and shore fishing is a long-standing use; whitewater paddlers run the river from the dam to the Hudson (class II–III at typical flows, with named rapids at Black Rock and the Island). Swimming anywhere along these banks is prohibited under village policy — Silver Lake's guarded beach is the only legal swimming in Croton — and there are no lifeguards. The current is controlled by releases from the New Croton Dam and can rise several feet within minutes, with sudden drop-offs at the banks; people have drowned in this river, at a rate local officials once put at about one a year.

History

The lower Croton River — the roughly three miles between the New Croton Dam and the Hudson — has been a swimming ground for generations. In the 1930s crowds gathered at Diana's Pool and at what is now called Mayo's Landing for daytime bathing and nighttime swimming, singing and drinking, on riverfront then owned by playwright Margaret Mayo and the Harmon Realty Company. The village's 1936–38 purchase of the Silver Lake property formalized one guarded beach, but the informal spots up and down the river never emptied: on a hot day Mayo's Landing alone can draw 40–50 swimmers.

Ownership of the banks was assembled piecemeal and remains mixed. The village holds parkland on the Harmon side, including Silver Lake and the Mayo's Landing access it now opens and closes with river conditions. On the Cortlandt side, the 21-acre strip between Quaker Bridge Road and the river became the state's Croton Gorge Unique Area, managed by DEC and wedged against the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park. Other stretches are private — a fact that came to a head in July 2022, when DEC discovered that the only trail safely reaching the river through the unique area partly crossed private property and closed the area to the public; as of 2026 it remains closed until further notice while DEC develops a management plan.

The river's danger is as documented as its appeal. In August 1956, an unannounced New York City release from the base of the New Croton Dam raised the river five feet in five minutes at Silver Lake. In July 2012 a 40-year-old Bronx man drowned while swimming with his family near the Ossining–Cortlandt line, reached via Quaker Bridge Road; Croton's mayor noted at the time that the river had seen "about one drowning a year" for years. In June 2017 a swimmer drowned at Mayo's Landing. The village now closes Silver Lake, Mayo's Landing and the Echo canoe launch during high flows, and DEC's 2016 regulations for the unique area (sunrise-to-sunset use, no alcohol, no fires, no camping, no hunting) were aimed at the same summer crowds.

Who owns what

Village of Croton-on-Hudson: Silver Lake Park and the Mayo's Landing access on the Harmon bank, opened and closed with river conditions. New York State DEC: the 21-acre Croton Gorge Unique Area between Quaker Bridge Road and the river in Cortlandt (closed since July 2022 over a trail crossing private land). Private owners: intervening stretches on both banks, generally unposted and unsigned. One fishing app labels a "Paradise Island County Park Access," but county ownership of the Paradise Island area could not be verified.

Safety and closures

Flows are set by the New Croton Dam and change without local warning — the current can rise several feet in minutes, and swimmers have drowned here, including at Mayo's Landing in 2017. The village closes its river accesses (Silver Lake, Mayo's Landing, Echo canoe launch) during high flows and announced release events such as dam inspections, and posted a 2019 swimming ban when fecal coliform exceeded limits near Mayo's Landing. The DEC Croton Gorge Unique Area is closed to the public until further notice; when open, its rules were sunrise to sunset, no alcohol, no fires or grills, no camping, no hunting, no audible music.

Fishing and paddling

The first mile of river below the dam is stocked annually with rainbow and brook trout, and shore fishing is an allowed, established use (the unique area's closure currently removes the east-bank access). Paddlers run the dam-to-Hudson stretch at 150–5,000 cfs, portaging or scouting the pumping-station dam, the Black Rock "rock slide" and the Silver Lake dam; the lower river is tidal toward the mouth.

Visiting

Hours

Village parkland: posted park hours. DEC Croton Gorge Unique Area: sunrise to sunset when open — currently closed to the public until further notice.

Parking

No dedicated trailhead parking. Nearest lots are at Silver Lake (end of Truesdale Drive, resident park) and Black Rock Park (Quaker Bridge Road); street parking near the river is restricted.

Getting there

From the village side via Silver Lake / Truesdale Drive toward Mayo's Landing; from Black Rock Park off Quaker Bridge Road. The former east-bank access through the DEC unique area on Quaker Bridge Road is closed.

Rules

Swimming is prohibited — the village permits swimming only at the guarded Silver Lake beach. Village parkland falls under Village Code ch. 168 (resident permit system) and the village-wide alcohol ban (ch. 72). The DEC unique area, when open, bans alcohol, fires, camping, hunting and audible music, sunrise to sunset; it is currently closed. Respect private stretches of bank.

Accessibility

Links

• Croton Gorge Unique Area — NYSDEC
• Croton River paddling guide — KCCNY
• Silver Lake and Mayo's Landing Open as of 7/24 — village river-condition notices
• Mayo's Landing — Paddling.com