3 Riverdale area parks with scenic hiking trails to visit before summer ends

As August winds down, kids are gearing up to return to school and adults are settling back into a more rigid daily routine. But before the summer slips away, there’s still time to bask in the area’s green spaces, especially its walking and hiking trails.

The Bronx is the city’s greenest borough, and greater Riverdale one of its most verdant sections. Here are five urban oases to visit before the summer ends.

Riverdale Park

Inside Riverdale Park — 50 acres of forest that run along the Hudson River from West 254th Street to West 232nd Street — there are two main trails, each with a scenic viewpoint, according to the city’s department of parks and recreation.

The first is a loop trail that is just under a mile long. Hikers will pass through a small pine grove as well as a mature oak-hickory forest, according to the department. Peering through canopy trees, there is a view of the Hudson River. Residents can enter through the parking lot at Spaulding Lane, as well as Riverdale Park’s entrance on West 254th Street.

There is also a shorter trail that starts at West 232nd Street, and runs for 0.6 miles, according to the department. About 0.2 miles down the trail, there is a semi-enclosed viewing platform where hikers can see the Hudson River and the Palisades.

Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront Park

Recently revamped by local volunteers, Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront Park has about 0.25 miles of trail, according to the city’s department of parks and recreation. Entering from Edsall Avenue, residents can wander through the forest and find themselves at a freshwater pond. According to the department, hikers can find a mix of invasive species,  such as common reed,  competing with native freshwater plants such as riverbank grape and box elder. Looking up from the pond, hikers will find a view of the Henry Hudson Bridge.

Residents can also find the Half-Moon Overlook at the park, where there are benches to sit and soak in the Palisades, Inwood Hill Park and the Hudson River.

Van Cortlandt Park

Van Cortlandt Park offers the widest selection of hiking trails at more than 20 miles of trails, according to the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. All of the trails boast different lengths and difficulties.

To learn a bit more about the neighborhood’s history, try the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail or the Putnam Greenway.

The former is 2.3 miles long, and starts at either Dickinson Avenue and Van Cortlandt Park South or Mosholu Parkway and West Gun Hill Road, according to the alliance. The trail covers the Old Croton Aqueduct tunnel built in the 1830s and ‘40s when the city didn’t have enough of a fresh water supply. It was used until 1897 when another tunnel, the New Croton Aqueduct, replaced it.

Walking the trail, residents will see tulip trees, sugar maples, and a mound encasing the Old Croton Aqueduct tunnel, according to the alliance.

To walk the Putnam Greenway, enter through Van Cortlandt Park South and Bailey Avenue. The trail is 1.9 miles long, according to the alliance. It follows the rail bed of the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad, which carried passengers from 1880 to 1958, according to the alliance. Parts of the old line are integrated into the park and visible while walking the path, such as large underpasses and iron bridge structures.

Throughout the Putnam Greenway, there are parts of the line integrated into the park, such as large underpasses and an iron bridge.