Satellite view of Crooke’s Point

---

Staten Island Unit Home Page | Great Kills Park Home Page

---

Located at the southern tip of Great Kills Park in the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, Crooke’s Point is a natural area that is popular for both fishing and bird watching. It was the home of naturalist John Crooke, who purchased the land in 1860. Like today, Crooke’s Point was connected to the mainland by a long, narrow strip of land that made it a peninsula and created a natural harbor. However, by 1916 the waves had eroded the connecting strip of land so that the tip of the peninsula, what is called Crooke’s Point today, became an island, destroying the harbor in the process. It wasn’t until the late 1940s when New York City decided to develop the area into a park that the island was reconnected to the mainland by landfill and the harbor was restored.

Two roads lead to opposite ends of Crooke’s Point. Bird watchers tend to use Crooke’s Point Road, while fishermen use Harbor Road. However, to drive a vehicle into Crooke’s Point you need an annual parking permit. Out-of-town visitors who only want to see Crooke’s Point once are better off walking or biking—there is no fee for that. The distance from the Great Kills Park swimming beach at Parking Lot G to the water at Crooke’s Point is only a half mile, a distance most people can walk in no more than fifteen minutes. If you plan to bike, the road and pedestrian paths are comprised of loose gravel, so road bikes with narrow tires may have a problem.

Parking permits are required to park along Crooke’s Point Road and Harbor Road within Gateway National Recreation Area

Pedestrian path alongside Crooke’s Point Road at the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area

For local residents who visit Crooke’s Point often, permits are only available for purchase online at Recreation.gov (if this link does not work, go to Recreation.gov and search for Gateway NRA Fishing Access permits). They are not sold year-round, so if you want one, it is best to get one in February. Permits are valid from the time of purchase until February 28th. There is no pro-rated fee, so if you purchase one on December 1st, it is only good for three months.

While you purchase the permit online, you must take your receipt to a specified location within the park to redeem it for an actual parking sticker. Locations are given on Recreation.gov. You need one permit for each of your vehicles. They are not transferable.

There are three short hiking trails that allow you to crisscross the property, but they aren’t well traveled. Due to ticks, a park Ranger did not recommend hiking them unless I had on long pants. Being in shorts, I heeded her advice. As you travel down Crooke’s Point Road you will first pass the Yellow Trail. The Orange Trail, the second you will come to, is located at the right side of the entrance to the Crooke’s Point parking lot. The White Trail is located at the far end of the parking lot, also on the right side.

Start of the Yellow Trail on Crooke’s Point at the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area

Orange Trail at Crooke’s Point at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Great Kills Park

White Trail at Crooke’s Point at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Great Kills Park

If you want to take an easy, 1.4-mile walk around Crooke’s Point, forget the hiking trails. Instead, start at Parking Lot G and walk along Crooke’s Point Road until you get to the parking lot, then take the sandy trail next to the restroom building. This leads out to the point. There are other cut-through trails on the left side of the parking lot that lead to the beach, but you don’t want any of those.

Satellite view of Crooke’s Point Parking Lot

Path to the beach at Crooke’s Point, Great Kills Park

It is about a tenth of a mile to the beach. If you have not been to any of Gateway National Recreation Area’s Staten Island Unit beaches other than the swimming beach at Great Kills Park, you may be in for a shock. Most of them are just plain nasty—you might as well be at the dump. It’s not the National Park Service’s fault, it’s just that being so close to New York City the trash washes up on the beach faster than anyone can pick it up. The only reason the Great Kills Park swimming beach is decent is because a tractor rakes the sand for trash each morning, otherwise it would be just like all of the rest.

Crooke’s Point Beach, typical of beaches at the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area

When you get to the water, take a right to head towards the harbor. Keep in mind that at high tide you may not be able to make it, or at least may have to walk through the grass close to the shore, which means you can potentially pick up ticks.

Beach at Crooke’s Point at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Great Kills Park may get narrow at high tide

When you reach the mouth of the harbor you are likely to see many fishermen, for this is a very popular spot. The Harbor Road parking lot is just around the corner.

Fishing at Crooke’s Point at the mouth of Great Kills Harbor, Gateway National Recreation Area

Harbor Road parking lot at Crooke’s Point at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Great Kills Park is a popular fishing spot

The walk back to Parking Lot G is along Harbor Road, which, like Crooke’s Point Road, is gravel. All of these roads were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, so everything you see at Crooke’s Point is relatively new.

There is a grassy picnic area along Harbor Road that also has a few benches for people to sit and look out over the harbor.

Crooke’s Point picnic area at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Great Kills Park

Bench overlooking Great Kills Harbor at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Great Kills Park

Other than the trash on the beach, the walk around Crooke’s Point is highly enjoyable. At a leisurely pace it takes about an hour to complete the loop.

Back to the Top