Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center
Directions
From the northbound Taconic State Parkway, take the Millwood/Route 100 Exit. At the end of the exit ramp, turn left onto Campfire Road. At the traffic light at Route 100, turn right. Head north for 3.9 miles and turn left onto Route 118. Hanover Street is the first right turn and Hilltop Hanover Farm is 1.4 miles to the left.
From the southbound Taconic State Parkway, take the Underhill Avenue Exit and turn left. Go 2.0 miles, turning right at the second light to stay on Underhill Avenue. Continue 0.2 mile to a stop sign and turn right onto Hanover Street. Hilltop Hanover Farm is 1.6 miles to the right.
41.252253N 73.772854W
Park Overview
More than just a place to hike, Hilltop Hanover Farm is a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm run by the Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm and an environmental center that offers many classes. The farm also protects NY City's drinkiing water supply.
Trail Overview
The parkland portion of Hilltop Hanover Farm is protected open space. Its trails go through open woods, cross stone walls and pass a dammed pond A 1.2 mile mowed path on the west side of Hanover Street circles the farm fields. There are views over the farm in the northern portion of this trail and to Manhattan skyline on a clear day. The two trails systems connect via a short trail across Hanover Street.
Park Description
The old stone walls, both surrounding and within the property, indicate early farm field patterns and suggest that the land had been farmed in the late eighteenth century. Croton Heights Road and Hanover Street are known to have existed before the American Revolution. Dairy operations began in the 1960s, but when the economy turned sluggish in the early 1990s, the breeding operation was discontinued. When the owners tried to sell the farm in the mid-1990s, the remaining cows were sold. Westchester County acquired the property in 2003.