Things to do in Haverstraw & Croton on the Hudson

A

Alex F

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I'm looking to do a trip to the Haverstraw & Croton on the Hudson area. It looks like Croton Bay is nice area to stay on the hook to chill on water and may be even stay over night. I also read good reviews about Haverstraw Marina and plan to spend the night there. I was wandering if I can get some recommendations on thing to do to keep my kids entertained. Is there anything to do in the towns of Haverstraw & Croton? I was thinking taking a dinghy ride to Croton (assuming there's a dinghy dock or other place to leave it) and walk to town if it's not too far.

Thanks,
Alex.
 
My advise is to stay on the boat and enjoy swimming at Croton.

Not much in Haverstraw or Croton other than places to eat. Parts of Haverstraw at times can be down right dangerous.
 
The north side of Croton is a GREAT!! place to throw out the hook and stay as long as the winds aren't out of the north west. You will find depths of 7 to 8 feet on approach and a well protected anchorage. The bottom is sandy and you should not have any problem setting your anchor. Depending on the weather you will find anywhere from 20 to several hundred boats in there. Most you anchor in closer to shore use a second anchor off of the stern to prevent swing. If you anchor farther out you can go sith a single bow anchor.

Haverstraw is a very transient friendly marina, that has food, fuel, pump-outs and a pool onsite. Your slip will have electric, water and cable available. There is real no "attarctions" in Haverstraw and truly nothing within walking distance.

You can get car service into town and there are a number of reasonably priced restaraunts available.

Take a nice boat ride north under the Bear Mountain Bridge and on to West Point. It is a short ride and the view is spectacular.

Plan on good weather, (HRCC has some of the best weather Gods), and enjoy Croton.
 
I was thinking to take a dinghy ride (assuming there’s safe place to leave the dinghy) and take a walk to the town of Croton. Is it a walking distance or the town is too small and not worth the hassle?
 
If you try to beach your dingy at Croton Beach, the police will "attack" you like your a terrorist.

Perhaps Walshie will respond to your request with some suggestions as to visiting Croton.
 
quote:
Originally posted by PeteMrrs

If you try to beach your dingy at Croton Beach, the police will "attack" you like your a terrorist....
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Geez, I thought this was boat friendly area. Is there a dinghy dock or do I need to go to Halfmoon bay (as I understand it's just north of the Croton Bay)?
 
quote:
Originally posted by Robyns Nest

...Parts of Haverstraw at times can be down right dangerous.
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Thanks for heads up. This is important to keep in mind. I guess, we might be skeeping the town visit, especially if there's not much to do.
 
Half Moon bay is not dinghy friendly! They wanted to charge me $20 to drop someone off at their dock!
 
quote:
Originally posted by HOGAN

Half Moon bay is not dinghy friendly! They wanted to charge me $20 to drop someone off at their dock!

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So, if I'm not using their slip for the night I guess visit to town of Croton is also off the list.

I think as a plan A I'll head out from Jersey City to Croton for a lunch stop and then Haverstraw. Then the next day, if the crew agrees, we might take a ride to the other places you guys mentioned and then we'll settle in Croton Bay for the rest of the day and if weather permits, for the night.
 
Croton is divided by the RR tracks and route 9 with only parkland on the river side of tracks, along the length of the river (hey, not the worst thing). You can leave your dinghy safely at the guest dock at my marina, The Croton Yacht Club and walk over the foot bridge. On the other side of route 9 and the rr tracks are two places. "The Tavern" is kid friendly but stops serving at 9pm where it is more of a...tavern. Ocean House (doors away from the Tavern) is great but small, reservations are required.

Closer to Croton Point, you should be able to leave the dink at the Senasqua Boat Basin / Croton Sailing School. From there, walk through the "picture tunnel" (right there near the docks), up municipal place and to The Purple Monkey ice cream place. There is also Memphis Maes BBQ joint there (as well as a bank, pharmacy, bagle store and nail place...typical strip mall).

The only real attraction in town is "Van Cortlandt Manor", a cab-ride away or the Croton Dam (an awesome park), also a cab ride away (914)271-TAXI. All of the Village of Croton is very, very safe. Let me know if you would like more details.

BTW - I've dinghied to Croton Point several times and never had a problem...as a Resident of Croton, I would be pretty upset if I did.
 
If you go up to West Point, go a little farther
around Gees point to Cold Spring on the east shore. You can tie up at the Cold Spring Boat Club at the end of the docks for free. I think the limit is a 32' boat. There are a lot of quirky shops there, several good restaurents and a good pizzeria. When you go around Gees Point look up at the revolutionery war fort from 1776 on top of Constitution Island. If your boat is too large to tie up at Cold Spring go about 3 miles to the Newburgh waterfront on the west shore just past the tanks. Lots of eaterys and docking for large boats. You will get to see Bannermans Island Castle. You can go to their web site to get it's history. Newburgh is about 1 hour from Croton Point so it's an easy day trip.We have been on the river since 1977 and we are not tired of going up there yet.
 
This is great info guys. Thanks a lot, this is exactly what I was looking for. I guess, when we get there we'll have better feel for the area and what we'd like to do, but it's good to know what the options are.

I'm not planning to go too far north this time just b/c I'll be planning a different trip for northern part of hudson/upstate NY.
 
Alex,

Let me know when you are planning on heading up this way, maybe we can meet up. You'll be passing me on the way up.
 
Greg,

I'll be heading north from Liberty Landing on 7/7 and we're planning to stay 1st night (7/7-7/8) at Havestraw Marina and then spend the day and may be overnight (7/8-7/9) at anchor in Croton Bay. At least this is plan A if all is well and weather gives us the green light.
 
FYI - The limit at Cold Spring is 30'. I tied up there to drop someone off and was quickly asked to leave. I didn't know they had a limit until that day.
 
It's obvious that the Hudson is not boater friendly. Go out to Long Island and many towns there have open arms to the boaters, willing to let them dock at public docks and allow the boaters to come into town and their spend money.

When will Rockland and Westchester wake up???
 
quote:
Originally posted by Robyns Nest

It's obvious that the Hudson is not boater friendly. Go out to Long Island and many towns there have open arms to the boaters, willing to let them dock at public docks and allow the boaters to come into town and their spend money.

When will Rockland and Westchester wake up???

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Never, unfortunately.

Both Nyack and Haverstraw Village could benefit greatly from having town docks. They would attract boaters, who spend money and visitors, who like to walk docks and look at the boats.

It is sad that both communities are so short sighted that they don't see the benefit of getting boaters into their villages to spend money.
 
The guest dock at Cold Spring is not very big and the cleats are very small. With the current in the area and the wakes I am not sure how good it would hold a large boat. I agree that if the towns put in docks it would bring a lot of revenue to the area, but no one ever wants to spend the money to help non residents - very short sighted. Newburgh was smart, look at all the boaters who tie up there and spend money. Cold Spring should add a town dock since the dock in question is a private boat club for smaller size boats. It is a great town to eat in as well as tour/shop.
 
I'm sure you guys have done it number of times, can you give me some advise on best transportation method from Liberty Landing Marina to NYC? I've learned that we have two opitons, water taxi and light rail. Which one would be better without worry too much about the schedule?
 
Both means of transportation are very good. The Water Taxi leaves right out of Liberty Landing, and the Light Rail takes you up to the Hoboken Ferry. All depends on which one fits your schedule.
 
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