Old Croton Aqueduct
| Some History |
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The Old Croton Aqueduct ran from the Croton Reservoir to a reservoir that is now the New York Public Library and Bryant Park, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues (which, if I recall correctly, played a major role in Caleb Carr’s The Alienist). The New York City Parks Department has a neat, clickable map of the OCA from the Bronx border to Central Park. In fact, before it reached the distributing reservoir (at 40th-42nd Streets), there was the 55-acre Yorkville Reservoir in the center of what is now Central Park, particulary at what is now the Great Lawn and part of its northern wall remains as part of the retaining wall on the 86th Street transverse. There is a very nice description of the trail in Westchester from north to south from Patrick Cooney at this page from NY-NJ-CT Botany Online.
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The Old Croton Reservoir, or OCA, is a state park that runs from the border of the Bronx and Yonkers to the Croton Reservoir, with some breaks and diversions from the true path of the reservoir. While generally along the ground, it occasionally bridges valleys, as it does in Irvington (in the picture), although you don’t realize it from the OCA itself.
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| Overlooking the Hudson. |
The result is a flat dirt running surface, which is not surprising given the nature of a aqueduct. The exception is the few areas in the northern part of the OCA, particularly around the Rockefeller Park, in which it takes major diversions from the actual course of the aqueduct and provides some brief but sometimes sharp ups-and-downs.
If you plan on running on the OCA with frequency, it might be useful to pick up a nice map that was prepared by the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct (You can get a copy directly from them or pick one up at Posman Books, the bookstore in Grand Central (where it’s $6 plus tax). The map is particularly useful for picking up the 3 spots in which there is a major diversion or break in the trail.) Time’s Up, a City-based environmental group, has this biking list of the OCA with mileage.
The Three Segments
| Southern | Central | Northern | |||
| Bronx to Yonkers | Yonkers to Tarrytown | Sleepy Hollow to Scarborough |
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There is a further segment north from Scarborough and to the Croton Dam (picture left, looking south from atop the dam, with the OCA ending to the left of the Croton River) (here’s a map), but I am not including it until I have more information about it. I will note that from the map I have, it appears to be a pretty straight-forward shot to the north with the exception of Ossining, where it looks like you have to run for a few blocks on the street. But some spectacular parts of the Aqueduct are in Ossining, including the prospect of entering the Aqueduct itself. And if you’re up-the-river in Ossining, “at the Ossining Visitor’s Center is a life-size replica of the Aqueduct as well as replicas of Sing Sing Prison cells and the old electric chair.”
The OCA ends (or, more properly, begins) at the New Croton Reservoir/New Croton Dam, where it connects with the Briarcliff-Peekskill Trailway and Croton Gorge Park.
A final note, which comes from the Friends of the OCA site. You are not running on the City’water-supply. The OCA ceased sending water into New York City in 1955. Another, larger and deeper aqueduct, the New Croton Aqueduct, took up some of its load in 1890 and now supplies 10% of the City’s drinking water.
| Last edited on ... February 5, 2006 |  |