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Route: Old Croton Aqueduct Trail (NY)

Location
New York, US
Distance
42 mi
Vertical Gain
1,000 ft
Description

This is the old croton aqueduct trail, which follows the old croton aqueduct from Croton Reservoir, NY south to finish at 42nd and 5th Ave, behind the NY Library (At Bryant Park). The trail follows the route of the actual aqueduct, which originally was the only supply of freshwater to the manhattan area. It is maintained by the Friends of Old Croton Aqueduct. The route can most accurately be found in the 2 maps that the Friends of the Aqueduct sell https://aqueduct.org/maps-and-access
The Friends of Old Croton Aqueduct have also implemented a cool patch and certificate system, whereby they give you a 26mi and 41mi patch for completing the first section of the trail (Croton to just south of Yonkers, NY) and the entire trail (Croton, NY to 42nd street Bryant park). Details are on their website (listed above)

The route was probably first run in its entirety by Peter Bakwin on May 24, 2007.  His report is here.
 

GPS Track
OCA_croton_NY_to_Bryant_Park_NYC_.gpx1.75 MB

FKTs

Comments

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shmajent
Thu, 11/27/2025 - 05:10am

Hallo! Just ran this yesterday, and I'm not the type to hope to get an FKT on a course like this. Of note! No fountains in the Bronx nor Manhattan worked except for one near the first playground on the east-side of Amsterdam Ave towards 152nd. Later, Fifth Ave was an absolute clog – then again, that's what you get for running in the afternoon on Thanksgiving Eve! Still a fun run. My pack included nearly 3L of water, 3 Stroopwaffels (consuming 2), five gels, a dozen electrolyte chews, 2 packs of Tailwind Endurance Fuel (using one), and one pack of Tailwind High Carb. The water was split between a 2L bag and two 17 fl oz flasks. A spare bottle water and "emergency" candy bar were in my pack, as was a small emergency kit of a torch, bandaids, battery pack, and stomach meds. Overall it took 7h 29m elapsed time with great views spoiled only by humidity!