Date visited: 9/23/2022

This is a wonderful park located in the northeast corner of The Bronx. Yes, that's right...The Bronx! We hiked the "Hunter Island Loop" trail, that loops around the northern peninsula (it's not really an island). We were immediately greeted by Bambi, who ran a few feet passed us. Then she stalked us for a while from the shadows. I was able to get a couple of pictures of her. The rest of the trail is very scenic. There are quite a few side trails that branch out from the main loop that provide access to the scenic shore. It was the first full day of fall, and it felt like it. The temps barely got out of the low 60's. While there was a gathering going on right near the huge parking lot (parking is free this time of the year), there wasn't many people on the trail at all, despite it being nearly perfect walking weather. After we completed the loop, we headed over to the Orchard Beach section of the park. It was a really nice afternoon in The Bronx!

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Dates visited: 9/23/2022 & 4/15/2024

This beach is actually part of Pelham Bay Park. It was low 60's and windy, so not really a beach day. But we've visited beaches on much worse days! There is a large promenade area that must be very busy during the summer months. The sand on the beach looked perfect. It was a windy day (Hurricane Fiona was well off-shore, but causing wind and high surf conditions in the Northeast). The wind had blown the sand around so it was very smooth, and undisturbed by foot prints. Despite it being the off-season, dogs aren't technically allowed on the promenade or the sandy areas until October 1st. There was practically nobody here, so I don't think anyone minded that we were a week early. In fact, we passed a NYC patrol car driving by on the promenade, and the two officers just waved at us! I'm thinking that there is more important stuff for them to deal with in The Bronx than a guy walking his dogs on the promenade a week early! We pretty much just walked the length of the promenade out and back. It was a very nice walk on a cool and breezy day.

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Unlike our first trip here, our second trip here was on a beach day. Temps were in the low 80's. We stopped here on the way home from our Randall's Island adventure. Dogs are allowed on the beach from October 1st until the day before Memorial Day weekend. Mandy and Lexi went straight for the water! We walked a good portion of the beach, but were warned off one end by other beach goers due to someone with an off-leash pitbull. It looked like they were re-building some of the old beach buildings. There was some construction going on that wasn't there the last time we were here. We only stayed here for a half hour or so, but it was plenty of time for the dogs to cool off on a hot day.

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Date visited: 5/7/2023

I've been wanting to take these photos for a long time now. As you may know, Mandy and Lexi are big time Yankees Fans! I was waiting for a nice day when the Yankees weren't in town so there would be less people around and I could park. I actually parked right on "Rivera Avenue" in front of the Yankee Shop. While I was taking the pictures, my wife went into the shop and bought the dogs new Yankees hats (the hats are actually made for infants). This meant I had to go back and take additional pictures with the new hats. Let me tell you, keeping hats on dogs is a real challenge. A few passerby's were amused and stopped to take their own photos. It was fun, but I was envisioning better pictures in my mind. It's hard taking photos of small dogs in front of big structures. We also crossed the street to Macombs Dam Park, the site of the old Yankee Stadium, where part of the facade from the old park has been preserved.

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Date visited: 3/24/2024

It was completely overcast to the east, but bright and sunny with practically no clouds to the west, so we headed west, southwest actually, to The Bronx. This is a pretty great park. It's the third largest park in New York City, so there is plenty to see here. There was free parking at the lots near the golf course (at least it was free on this day). I initially thought I would just walk the Putnam Greenway, a paved bike trail that connects to the South County Trailway in Yonkers, but we wound up not walking much of that at all. The rest of the park was more interesting, so we just went exploring instead. We mainly followed the cross-country track that loops an open field area, but took side excursions off that trail to other parts of the park. I was very impressed with how clean and well-maintained the park is kept. There was also quite a few spots with early spring blooms. The area received nearly 3 inches of rain the day before. One of the dog parks was flooded, but mostly everything else we saw was dry. We wandered around here for over four miles, so it was a good walk.

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Date visited: 9/12/2024

We've had really good experiences at New York City parks in the past, but not this one! The park itself would be wonderful if it was better cared for. The real issue is that there is trash and broken glass everywhere, especially along the shore at the fishing points. I've seen this elsewhere, not just at this park or in New York City. There are a lot of people who go fishing and leave their trash all over the place. There's really no excuse for it here, especially since there are garbage cans every 20 feet! There's an eastern and western section of the park. We visited the western section. It looks like the eastern section is now mostly a golf course. The western section of the park offers views of the Whitestone Bridge, as well as the Manhattan skyline. It was a perfectly clear day just about everywhere, but very hazy over Manhattan for some reason, so the skyline photos aren't that nice. The dogs were hot, so against my better judgement, I let them cool off in the East River. Despite being up the river quite a ways, there are all sorts of sea shells that have washed ashore. There's a nice paved walking/bike trail around the park, and the restroom was remarkably clean. There is a large, free parking lot, but it can fill up since there is a ferry port located here as well. (In case you're wondering, it's a 56 minute trip to Lower Manhattan by ferry from here). At any rate, the park would actually be quite nice, if it wasn't for the careless visitors who leave their trash all over the place!

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