This excursion is one of several we took in and around New York City in late May and early June 2019, taking advantage of a few days with really nice weather! Check out the whole series:
- Untermyer Gardens
- Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at New York Botanical Garden
- Governor’s Island
- Staten Island Ferry
- Old Croton Aqueduct And Ossining Weir (current post)
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The Old Croton Aqueduct was created as a system to feed water to New York City. It was designed and built in the 1830’s and opened in 1842, over 175 years ago! It carried water 41 miles from the Croton Reservoir all the way to Manhattan, ending in a spectacular reservoir at what is today the site of Bryant Park and the main branch of the New York Public Library at 42nd St and 6th Ave.
The aqueduct was an engineering marvel for it’s time, designed so that it would drop just 13 inches each mile so that the water could flow naturally by gravity. It remained in service until 1955, and in the 1960’s a state park / trail walkway was created to encompass the northern 26 miles, from Van Cortlandt Park, near where we live in the Bronx, up to the terminus at the Croton Dam.
When we first moved to Riverdale in 2015, we were very diligent about tackling a couple of miles of the Old Croton Aqueduct trail during our nature walks. We would drive to a particular spot, then walk north a mile or 2, then circle back to the car, and then on the next trip, start where we had last left off. We got off schedule with finishing it because eventually our starting point was more than half hour from our home, making it a longer trip than we wanted for a regular walk. However, we’re back on the trail and almost finished – just 4 miles to go.
We recently walked a couple of miles in Ossining, which happened to coincide with their village fair. Given the special day, Friends of The Old Croton Aqueduct opened up the Ossining Weir for viewing and tours. The Ossining Weir is one of several weirs built along the Aqueduct that allowed workers to divert the water into the Hudson River, so the tunnel could be emptied for maintenance and repairs.
We were able to climb down into the weir and get a brief tour, hearing some of the history and technical details of the Aqueduct. A fascinating and unexpected treat!
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
It’s great that you’re so close to finishing the trail. I don’t think I have the fortitude to keep at it as long as you did, let alone pick it back up the way you did.
Hope those last four miles prove to be relatively easy to accomplish.
Our youngest one goes off to college this fall so we’re entering a period of extended travel and hopefully less time in NYC. So it may take us a while to finish those last four miles but it will be for a fun reason!