All about trails

Trails

Trails are pathways through our parks that may be used by hikers, riders, walkers, runners, dog walkers, cross country skiers, snowshoes and more. All users are responsible for proper use of the parks and trails including following Leave No Trace principles. None of the local parks permit motorized use. Most allow dogs on leash. You must leash your dog and pickup and take home dog waste.

Bikes are allowed in all of the parks except Teatown and Turkey Mountain, but not all trails in the other parks are suitable for biking. Know your ability. Many trails are too steep to avoid walking in one direction. Granite Knolls and Woodlands have been designed for riding with Woodlands being easier.

Almost all the parks are maintained by volunteers from the New York – New Jersey Trail Conference with cooperative agreements with the land managers. Help them out by not leaving litter – pack it in – pack it out. Volunteer to be a maintainer or join a trail crew doing major repairs. Trail problems will not be fixed until they are reported. Report problems here.

Because our parks are mostly small with few opportunities for full day trips, there are fewer essentials than required in a wilder environment. The essentials are: a map, proper clothing and shoes for the weather, water, maybe a snack, first aid kit (and bike repair kit for bikers), seasonally insect repellent and sunscreen. Additional items you might want include: camera, GPS, binoculars, flora/fauna id books or smartphone apps.

Maps

Trails change frequently – make sure you have the latest maps. Each of the parks describe on this site have suggested maps. Many maps are available on smartphones the best of which locally are on Avenza Maps with a free app and some paid and free maps. Trailforks is frequently used by bikers. In Yorktown Trailforks only covers Sylvan Glen to Woodlands but has the info you need to choose trails wisely. Both of these are regularly updated. Open Street Map has some trails and may be helpful if you have nothing else. It is not regularly updated.

Hikes and Rides

Hikes or rides are particular routes using the trails. These are useful if you are a less confident map user. They may point out features that you might miss if just observing on your own.  There are several sources of hike descriptions for Yorktown.