7.2 miles | 453 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★

The Old Croton Aqueduct trail traces the waterway from Croton Dam to Bryant Park, and provided clean water to New York City in the 1800s. In 2019, we finished our 3-part hike of the Westchester trail and this month, we opted to start the remaining 15 miles of the urban trail, likely also done as 3 parts.

Starting from 120th and Amsterdam, where we left off last time, we continued north for 35 blocks or so up through Hamilton Heights. When Sean first moved to the city, 15 years ago, he lived at 152nd and Broadway. So it was an area, not entirely unfamiliar to us, though felt so with how much had changed. The restaurants, the giant buildings that had come up, even the feel felt different.

• 

• 

• 

• 

At 154th street, we zigzagged east a little towards the Harlem River. Our destination was the High Bridge, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a dirt trail at 158th, taking us off the city streets and into the woods. We broke from the woods onto some rocks to take in views of the river before darting back into the shade and eventually to a multi-use trail that took us to the bridge. Once a reservoir on the west side of the river by the gate house, it was now converted to a pool for all to enjoy.

• 

• 

• 

We crossed the river, into the Bronx, and followed MLK Blvd, again back on city streets. Somewhere in the 180s, we came to the Aqueduct Walk, a paved path, just off the street, that followed the exact route of the old aqueduct. Ever once in a while we’d be met by a sign, showing and speaking of historic elements of the trail, and a map, so we knew we were on track. We were excited to see a photo of a ventilator, potentially up ahead on the trail, but sadly it had been removed some time ago.

Around 200th street, we were met by the Jerome Reservoir on our left and Lehman college on the right. We wandered up the side of the reservoir (access was blocked) before finally calling it quits for the day at 205th street. It was a natural stopping point, since the D train was so close. Yet, had I realized how close we were to the south side of Van Cortlandt Park, I might have pushed us the extra 15 minutes or so. Oh well, next time.