Pelham Bay Park

Pelham Bay Park is the largest park in New York City at 2,772 acres, more than three times the size of Central Park. Located in the northeastern Bronx along the shores of Long Island Sound, the park encompasses an extraordinary range of landscapes including forests, meadows, salt marshes, rocky shoreline, and the artificial beach of Orchard Beach.

The park was created in 1888 when the city acquired a vast tract of land that included the former estates of several wealthy families. The park's northern sections preserve the rocky, glaciated terrain of the Bronx's coastal geography, with dramatic rock outcroppings, tidal inlets, and ancient hardwood forest.

Pelham Bay Park's natural areas include the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected salt marsh and tidal flat that supports populations of herons, egrets, ospreys, and other shorebirds. The park's forests are among the most biodiverse in the city, supporting red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and a wide variety of woodland songbirds.

The park contains the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, a Federal-style country house built in 1842 on the site of a colonial manor. The mansion and its formal gardens provide a glimpse of the country estate life that characterized this part of the Bronx before urbanization.

Pelham Bay Park's recreational facilities include Orchard Beach, two golf courses (Split Rock and Pelham), a riding stable, tennis courts, ball fields, playgrounds, a nature center, and miles of hiking and bridle trails. The park also hosts a segment of the Hutchinson River Greenway.

Pelham Bay Park is the Bronx's most significant natural resource: a vast landscape that preserves the ecological and geological heritage of New York City's coastline. Its 2,772 acres provide habitat, recreation, and natural beauty on a scale that is unmatched by any other park in the five boroughs.