Croton-on-Hudson

Visitors to the quaint little Hudson River Valley village of Croton-on-Hudson can glean why famed folk-singer and environmentalist Pete Seeger might have been inspired to base his Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival on its shores. Nature lovers enjoys the area’s sailing and walking trails, while birders flock to the Croton Point Park in all seasons to catch a glimpse of bald eagles, waterfowl, meadowlarks, bobolinks, kestrels, hawks and great horned owls. The area, a mere twenty minutes from Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow's famed estates of Kykuit, Sunnyside and Philipsburg Manor, also is home to the Van Cortlandt Manor, an elegant ...

Visitors to the quaint little Hudson River Valley village of Croton-on-Hudson can glean why famed folk-singer and environmentalist Pete Seeger might have been inspired to base his Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival on its shores. Nature lovers enjoys the area’s sailing and walking trails, while birders flock to the Croton Point Park in all seasons to catch a glimpse of bald eagles, waterfowl, meadowlarks, bobolinks, kestrels, hawks and great horned owls. The area, a mere twenty minutes from Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow's famed estates of Kykuit, Sunnyside and Philipsburg Manor, also is home to the Van Cortlandt Manor, an elegant 18th-century stone manor house that re-creates life during the Revolutionary period in America. Costumed guides offer visitors a taste of crafts and tasks of the period like blacksmithing, brick making, open-hearth cooking, spinning and weaving. Special events add to the experience of domestic life as an early American patriot.

Guests at the 1889 Alexander Hamilton House note the rich history of the New Croton Dam and the Croton River Gorge as spots of interest. Though warm weather makes for great picnicking and biking, easy access by train allows for winter visitors to pop up and enjoy ice skating on Duck Pond or the candlelit mansion tours during Van Cortlandt Manor’s Ferry House Twelfth Night holiday celebration.

About the Expert

Sascha Zuger is the author of the New York State Moon Handbook, the travel novel Girl Overboard (under the pseudonym Aimee Ferris), and is a freelancer for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.