As we’ve been saying, over and over again, we need to start planning our travels again. This time, I’ll be delving more into the Van Cortlandt Park, and what you can do there.
Having spent the better part of my elementary and teen years growing up on Broadway opposite Van Cortlandt Park in the northwestern portion of the Bronx, I hold onto many fond family memories. How easy it was just to cross the street and slide immediately into the grassy fields surrounded by woodsy rolling hills.
My dresses would be returned to my mother with green stains from any given afternoon spent on Vault Hill, the Van Cortlandt family’s original burial grounds. I can still hear my sister counting down for our hide-and-go-seek games and recall my first lessons in catching a ball during family picnics. For years I barely knew how steeped in history this oasis from the city was.
The land was purchased by Dutchman, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, back in 1694. His son built the family mansion in 1748. Now a museum, a national landmark, and the Bronx’s oldest building, it is furnished to reflect the life of the 18th & 19th centuries. For a taste of New York in its earliest settlement days, spend an hour or two exploring the mansion and the surrounding grounds.
Experience what George Washington did when he stayed there during the Revolutionary War (although the mansion was behind British lines) before he returned to New York City to do battle with the British Army.
Van Cortlandt is the city’s third-largest park and sprawls over 1,150 acres, which includes a 16-acre man-made lake. It’s only a few stops north of Manhattan on the #1 subway train. There is a nine-hole golf course, the Mosholu Golf Learning Center just off the park’s southeastern section along Jerome Avenue, (see James Sibley’s article Golf In Your Backyard).
Its entrance is just north of Woodlawn Station on the subway’s #4 train. The Golf course or Vannie, as the locals call it, is a par 70 course, and is the easiest golf course to get to by subway from the West Side of Manhattan.
Over the years, many actors and athletes, including Sidney Poitier and Willie Mays, have played at Van Cortlandt. Andrew Giuliani (son of Rudy and the 2006 MGA Player of the Year) considers Van Cortlandt his home course.
In addition to having the nation’s first public golf course (1895) whose clubhouse sits right on the lake, the park offers a wide variety of escapes and activities for every season including a nationally-renowned cross-country running course and horseback riding, which is available year-round to professionals and amateurs alike.
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Whether for a dressage lesson or an hour of forest trails, since the Columbus Ave. stables closed in 2006, this country retreat is the closest place you’ll find for cantering unless a carriage ride in central park will suffice. The Riverdale Equestrian Centre in Van Cortlandt Park provides an indoor arena so riding is an option even during the coldest months.
Other seasonal activities include tennis, swimming, and hiking on nature trails near some of the preserved wetlands. Van Cortlandt has over 37 baseball diamonds, soccer fields, and other athletic facilities — the most of any park in the city. All are easily accessible but filled on weekends during the warmer months of the year. This winter, bring your sled, some riding boots, a blanket, and a thermos of hot chocolate. And for a list of upcoming events, visit nycgovparks.org.
How to get there:
Take the 1 train to 245th St.—the last stop. Walk, take a taxi, or the #9 bus to Broadway and W. 254th St. The stable is on the right.
To get to the golf course, head east through the park at 245th St. and under the old New York Central Railroad trestle, then make a left. The historic clubhouse on the lake will be in front of you.
(Riverdale Riding Centre, West 254th Street & Broadway, 718.548.4848, riverdaleriding.com)
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram