Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Hours of Operation

• The Preserve is open year round, from dawn to dusk. The office hours are from 9:00 AM- 4:30 PM, closed Christmas Day.

• Picnicking: Extremely limited. No picnic pavilions on premesis.
  
  There is no picnicking allowed in the area of the carriage trails--the area that begins at the visitors' center and spreads both east and west. There are, however, several picnic tables opposite the equestrian parking lot which is just before you enter the general parking area. The public may use those tables.
  
  At Rockwood Hall the public may picnic on the grounds, however no open fires are permitted. There are no restroom facilities available at Rockwood Hall.

• Equestrian use and carriage driving is allowed by permit only. Please contact the Preserve Office for details.
• Freshwater fishing is permitted in season. State permits required. Please register each season at the Park Office.

Fees & Rates

Most New York State Parks charge a vehicle use fee to enter the facility. Fees vary by location and season. A list of entry fees and other park use fees is available below. For fees not listed or to verify information, please contact the park directly.

The easy-to-use Empire Pass card is $80- and your key to all-season enjoyment with unlimited day-use entry at most facilities operated by State Parks and the State Dept. of Environmental Conservation including forests, beaches, trails and more. Purchase online or contact your favorite park for more information. Learn more about our Admission Programs including the Empire Pass.

• Vehicle Entry Fee (VUF)
• $6.00 per vehicle 
  Bus permits: $35 for non-profit orgs, $75 for commercial - per visit
  
  Collected:
  Daily, year round. 8:00am - 4:30pm
  
  
  Golden Park Pass for NYS seniors 62 and over.
  Simply use your NYS driver's license at the pay stations for free vehicle access Monday-Friday
  
  

  *Collected via automated pay station.

• Equestrian Permits
• Annual Equestrian Permit: $40 plus empire passport for vanning horses
  One Day Pass Equestrian Use Permit: $15 plus vehicle entry fee
  
  Trailer & horse: $80 season/empire pass; $6/visit

Maps

New! Download this park's digital map to your iOS Apple and Android device.

• Rockefeller State Park Preserve Trail Map

• Trail Map (pdf)
• Trail Map and Destinations Guide (pdf)

Highlights of Rockefeller State Park Preserve:

• Despite being less than an hour from Manhattan, the park's wooded valleys still offer the peace and quiet described two hundred years ago by Washington Irving in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He wrote, "Not far from (Tarrytown), perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley, or rather lap of land, among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tapping of a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility."
• RSPP encompasses forested hills and valleys cut by the Pocantico River and several streams along with a pastoral landscape of hayfields and pastures. The beech-maple, oak-hickory, and mixed hardwood forests contain towering trees, some over 150- 200 years old. Hemlocks can be found at the base of the cool slopes along the 13 Bridges and Witches Spring Trails. These forests are rich in wildlife that nest and feed in old trees with snags and hollows, such as bluebirds, owls, woodpeckers, wood ducks, and flying squirrels.
• To highlight its value as natural area, Rockefeller is designated by the State as a "Park-Preserve." Park preservation areas identify and conserve and protect portions of state parks that possess outstanding ecological values, including assemblages of flora and fauna that are unique or rare in the state. A park preserve allows passive recreation use within the park.
• Mixed flocks of warblers pass through in waves during the spring and fall, leading one birder to call the park "warbler heaven." Over 34 species of warblers have been recoded here, including two uncommon species for the Hudson Valley, the Kentucky and worm-eating warblers; the latter nests on the ground in the deep forests of the park.
• Swan Lake, in addition to being extremely scenic, has a fragrant diversity of shoreline wildflowers, such as swamp azalea, tall meadow rue, sweet pepperbush, and swamp milkweed, and rafts of fragrant water lilies. The lake attracts diverse waterfowl including migrating buffleheads, hooded mergansers, and diverse waterfowl, including the occasional loon.

Look and listen for these birds at our Park:

• Bald Eagle - winter; over Hudson River from Rockwood Hall
• Bufflehead Duck - fall; on the lake
• Cedar Waxwing - fall; feeds on fruits and berries
• Eastern Bluebird - nest in the park throughout most of the year \
• Pilated Woodpecker - year-round; often heard near visitor center
• Veery - common spring migrant; breeds in the preserve
• White-throated Sparrow - fall, winter and spring
• Yellow Warbler - spring and summer; nests near streams
• Kentucky Warbler - annual visitors
• Hairy Woodpecker - year round
• Red-eyed Vireo - summer
• Louisiana Water Thrush - summer; requires fast-moving streams in forests
• Worm-eating warbler - summer; nests on the ground
• Wood Thrush - spring and summer - haunting call, nesting
• Indigo Bunting -summer; nests near parking lot and fields

Everyone is a Steward: Be a Rockefeller State Park Preserve Hero!

• Know the rules and concerns for the area you'll be visiting.
• Preserve the past: examine, but do not touch, cultural or historic structures and artifacts.
• Respect other visitors and their experience. Avoid excessive noise.
• Share the trail. Keep to the right except to pass. When in doubt, give the other user the right of way. Warn people when you are planning to pass.
• Respect wildlife and observe from a distance
• Use extra caution when using headphones. You may not be able to hear warnings.
• Don't litter.
• Hike on established, durable trails.

For more information, please read our Trail Tips!

Ask a Naturalist!

Q: What is the black bird with the long neck sitting on the log in the lake?

A: That is a cormorant, a fish eating bird species. Cormorants stop to dive for the fish in Swan Lake during their annual migration. They spread their wings to dry out after swimming, because they do not have oil on their wings like ducks do.

Q: Can you see the Hudson River from the Park?

A: Yes, there are spectacular views of the Hudson River and Palisades from the hilltop at Rockwood Hall. This is also a good place to view bald eagles in the winter.

Q: Are there fish in the lake and rivers?

A: The warm waters of Swan Lake support large-mouth bass, crappie, pumpkinseeds, bluegills, and bullhead catfish. Pocantico River is habitat for caddis fly larvae, which are the favorite food of the stocked brown trout. Trout fishing season is from April 1 to October 15. In SwanLake, fishing season runs from the third Saturday in June to November 30. Fishing Guidelines

Q: Do I have to worry about ticks?

A: RSPP carriage roads serve as wide trails so visitors do not brush against tall grass and brush, the habitat of ticks. Over 55 miles of carriage roads enable visitors to safely and easily access most parts of the park-preserve. However, you should still check your skin and clothing for ticks after being outdoors. Showering soon after being outdoors gives you an opportunity for a full body tick check and can help wash off unattached ticks. If you find a tick, you should remove it and speak with you doctor if any signs of illness occur.

Q: What is the vine with the mottled turquoise blue berries?

A: It is Porcelainberry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata), an ornamental vine with grape-like leaves that was introduced to the US from northeast Asia in 1870. Spread by birds, it is now very abundant and forms thick walls of vines draped on trees in the park and along Westchester parkways. It is considered to be an invasive species that outcompetes many native wildflowers, trees and shrubs.

More Interesting Facts about Rockefeller State Park Preserve:

Folklore:

• Buttermilk Hill, a high rocky ridge at the northeastern part of the preserve, is said to get its name from the turbulent period of the American Revolutionary War, when local farmers hid their dairy cattle on the ridge to protect them from marauding soldiers. The hill is referred to in an adapted Irish song:

   Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill,

Who should blame me cry my fill?

And every tear would work a mill,

Johnny has gone for a soldier.

Flora:

• Rockefeller State Park Preserve boasts 1,775 acres of forests, fields, a lake, and wetlands, including nearly 260 acres of Oak-Tulip Tree Forest, a vulnerable habitat type in New York State.
• Rockefeller is home to at least twelve endangered plant species. Many of these support endangered pollinators and threatened grassland wildlife.
• The Big Tree Trail is part of the Old Growth Forest Network. The forest in this part of the park dates back to at least 1860 and is characterized by towering tulip trees as tall as 157 ft tall.
• On Witch's Spring trail, look out for New York State's tallest Black Oak tree at 132.1 ft tall, and the state's tallest White Oak tree, at 130.2 ft tall. On Pocantico River trail, you can find the state's tallest Mockernut Hickory and Scarlet Oak trees, at 120.3 and 119.9 ft tall respectively. All trees measured by the Eastern Native Tree Society as of 2021.
• Ferns are a conspicuous part of the flora in RSPP. Most ferns prefer moist shaded areas, but a few, such as hay-scented fern, grow in open sunny areas on relatively dry soil, and the marginal woodfern is found in crevices on dry rocks. To date, 22 species of ferns and fern allies, fern-like seedless plants, have been found in the Preserve. Pocantico River Trail, Brothers' Path, 13 Bridges, and Eagle Hill Trails support the greatest diversity of ferns in the preserve.

The Rockefeller State Park Preserve, opened in 1983, and was made possible through the farsighted and generous gifts of the Rockefeller Family and the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund.  Originally designed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the Preserve initially encompassed 743 acres.  In 1998 the 80 acres of William Rockefeller's estate on the Hudson River, Rockwood Hall, as added to the Preserve.  Over the years, more acres were added by the generous donations by the Rockefeller family bringing the Preserve to its current 1800 acres and nearly 55 miles of carriage roads (2022).

Rockefeller State Park Preserve (RSPP) has a deer management program (DMP) that has been operational for approximately the past 20 years. This DMP employs a multi-faceted approach to reduce the impacts of excessive deer browse on native flora, with the broader intent to conserve the integrity of RSPP's ecosystems. In the absence of deer management, native herbaceous flora, forest understory, seedlings, saplings, and even mature trees can be severely damaged or depleted. Unfortunately, this excess herbivorous pressure not only results in losses to native floral demographics, but also has cascading impacts onto other wildlife which rely on this vegetation for food and habitat. For general context of deer impacts at RSPP, it was estimated in 2019 that there were approximately 50 deer per square mile in the preserve, which is roughly 5x the amount of deer that a typical ecosystem in the northeast can healthily sustain.