Croton-on-Hudson

Croton-on-Hudson, a five-square-mile village within the Town of Cortlandt, is a charming place that combines beautiful views, outdoor opportunities, and enough events and activities to keep everyone busy. Located where the Hudson and the Croton Rivers meet, there are marshy areas, heavy woods, a plateau, and the Croton River Gorge, which cascades downward into a park that offers fishing, picnicking, a baseball field, sledding, and cross-country skiing.

There is a wide range of housing choices, from condos, townhouses, and small clustered ranch homes to new, multi-million dollar houses. The village itself is a fun place to investigate, with its variety of shops, stores, markets, and restaurants. For the pets in your life, Croton Animal Hospital, along Route 9A, has the most skilled, caring, and dedicated veterinarians and staff in the area.

Tompkins Elementary School, Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School, and Croton Harmon High School are all well-reviewed schools. In the summer, Croton is camp heaven – Sport Squirts Camp (ages 3-7), Multi-Sport Camp (allowing kids ages 5-14 to try over 15 different sports from around the world during a single week of camp) and Single Sports Camp (soccer, tennis, lacrosse, etc.) There is also the renowned Croton Sailing School, which teaches kids ages 9-15 the art of small boat sailing and racing, right on the Hudson River.

Croton Point Park, a 508-acre riverside park, offers outdoor recreational areas, a nature center, and one of the oldest wine cellars in New York State. It’s also the site of some of the best festivals in the Hudson Valley. Bald Eagles spend their winters here, and in February, Croton Point hosts the Annual Hudson River EagleFest - with speakers, demonstrations, guided walks with naturalists, and a small army of enthusiastic birders eager to let you peer through their spotting scopes.

In June, the Park hosts the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival, a classic two-day music-filled folk festival with all kinds of vendors and performances. Be sure to check out the summer greenery at Van Cortlandt Manor, a beautifully restored stone house where authentically costumed actors recreate life as it was in the 18th century. Come Halloween, it hosts a decorating extravaganza, including a dazzling display over 4,000 intricately carved pumpkins.

Bounded by the Croton and Hudson rivers, the village of Croton-on-Hudson is part of the town of Cortlandt in Westchester County. Croton-on-Hudson is known for a lot of wonderful amenities, but it is best known for its great tasting water and waterfront, which is the only one in Westchester that is fully accessible to the public. The two rivers are also used for lots of recreational activities. There are beautifully landscaped parks, which take up the majority of the town's space. This great town also has a strong sense of community, which makes sense, considering that the residents really have to work hard to keep the town and water clean. There is a train station in town, but the commute to Manhattan is fairly long; it takes just under an hour. While Croton-on-Hudson is primarily a residential (and recreational) area, there are some businesses in the little downtown area near the train station. There are some very cute restaurants in Croton and nearby. Try the Ocean House for some great seafood. There are many different types of homes in Croton-on-Hudson; they range from small and affordable to expensive and spacious waterfront homes. There are some condos here, but most of the housing is in private homes. The schools in Croton are pretty good too.