Croton Gorge Park is a park in Cortlandt, New York. It is owned by Westchester County, New York. It consists of 97 acres at the base of Croton Dam. The Old Croton Trail has an endpoint in the park. Activities include hiking, fishing, cross-country skiing, and sledding. The Croton Reservoir is a historic part of the New York City watershed. It is notable and important in the history of supplying water for the biggest city in the United States of America via the Croton Aqueduct. The dam, built in 1842, was the first large masonry dam in the United States. It became the prototype for other municipal water supply dams in the eastern United States. The water demand in New York City eventually outstripped the supply that the dam could provide, so the New Croton Dam was built in 1893 on land purchased from A. B. Cornell. The reservoir has a capacity of 34 billion gallons.[2] The park offers trails, picnicking, fishing, sledding, a playground and a ball field. The beginning of the Croton River is here. A big fountain is in the Croton Gorge Park too. Access Road closed for Repairs: The road to the park (off Route 129) is closed for bridge reconstruction and repaving until December, 2007.[3]
