Best Places in the Park

Staff Picks

2 people standing and two people kneeling next to a sign the for the Enslaved African Burial Ground with text about the best place in the park

Ashley Hart Adams
Arts Integration Strategist 

My favorite place in the park is the Enslaved African Burial Ground.  So many community members use this space to connect to high power and their ancestors. I’m so excited about the Reimagining the Enslaved African Burial Ground in Van Cortlandt Park project and the positive impact it will have on the Bronx and the broader NYC community.

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Christina Taylor
Deputy Director

My favorite place in the park is the Cass Gallagher Trail in the Northwest Woods.  I enjoy going for peaceful quiet walks in nature and this is the perfect place for it in Van Cortlandt Park.  Shhhh! Please don’t tell too many people.

A man in a brimmed hat standing in front of a pond with trees in the background with text about the best place in the park

Leo Rode
Youth Programs Manager

My favorite place in the park is a spot off of the John Kieran Nature Trail. This is my favorite place because it is a quiet area where you can get close to the water. Water has always been calming for me. Whether it be the waves of an ocean or the stillness of a pond, a body of water brings me peace and happiness, which makes Hester and Piero’s Mill Pond my favorite place in VCP.

A woman in a yellow hardhat with stickers standing in front of a rock wall with text about the best place in the park

Leslie Garcia
Trails Stewardship Coordinator

This section of the Old Croton Aqueduct trail isn’t just a favorite place. It’s a testament to how committed hands, shared expertise, and long-term stewardship can revive a landscape shaped by both history and natural forces.

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Lindsey Kriaris
Educator

My favorite place in the park is the VCPA Learning Garden – especially when community members visit and share their personal connections to plants we grow and to gardening. I’m excited to see what it will look like next growing season!

A man in overalls holding a rake and standing on a rock next to trees with text about the best place in the park

Noel Hefele
Volunteer Coordinator

My favorite place in Van Cortlandt Park is a rock overlook off the cross country course—not the “scenic overlook” marked on maps, but a quieter vantage point that feels like stepping into Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.” Whether I’m running trails or leading restoration work in the Northwest Forest, I always pause there to watch the canopy shift with the seasons.

A woman in a winter hat and sunglasses smiling in front of water with a canoe it in and words about the best place in the park

Sara Kempton
Program Director: Environmental and Garden Education

I love being by the mill pond. As a child we would go here all the time to watch wildlife with my parents and many times my grandparents would stop by and sit with us. When I had kids I did the same with them.