Great Kills Park imagery

Great Kills Park

An ocean beach playground and wildlife haven on Staten Island

THINGS TO DO

National Park Service Rangers lead nature walks and hikes. The most popular walk follows the Blue Dot Trail, a one and a half mile path offering great viewing of diverse wildlife and natural habitats. Other activities include sunning, swimming, fishing, boating, bird-watching, biking, jogging, rollerblading and model airplane flying.

For all ages; multi-use hiking and walking path is wheelchair accessible. Lifeguards on duty from 10:00am-5:45pm daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

Located on a peninsula with an inlet harbor and barrier ocean beach, Great Kills Park has nature trails, a boat launch, fishing areas and a model airplane field. Long considered a rich natural resource, Native Americans gathered food and made medicine from Great Kills' plants and animals and from the Civil War to the beginning of World War II, commercial oystering boomed in its harbor.

In 1860, John J. Crooke, a businessman and pioneering naturalist, purchased the peninsula's point, living in a log cabin on its sandy shore, photographing the beautiful natural space and collecting plant and animal specimens. The City of New York bought Crooke's Point and the surrounding properties in 1929 and in 1949, Great Kills Park opened to the public. The precious wildlife haven became a National Park in 1973, included in Gateway National Recreation Area.

Today, Great Kills National Park is home to the only osprey nesting ground in Staten Island, and its mission remains reflective of Crooke's active nature-loving: to protect indigenous wildlife from invasive urban development while giving the community a place to enjoy and experience the oceanfront outdoors.