Pelham Bay Park: Impossibly Large (Tier List)
Pelham Bay Park is an impossibly large park. Hit Rodman’s Neck by the NYPD shooting range today for 10 bags of trash, a place we’d never been to before. Having said that, it’s possible that in aggregate we’ve been to Pelham Bay Park to clean trash over 100 times. Not going to count it but you can count up the Instas if you want. Within Pelham Bay Park, however, there are no short of one billion spots you could go to clean trash (or hang out. most are great for both.) I’ve decided to bless you all with a quick chronicle of all the spots you can go to and the ones that I recommend.
Part 1: The Spots
Here’s the list — the Shore Road pulloff, the tracks, the horse trail, the spot, the Bartow Pell Trails, Hunter Island, Twin Island, the owl spot, The City Island facing beach, the Orchard Backwoods, Rodman’s Neck, the Turtle Cove Coast, the Gray Mare, Indian Rock, Trash Point (I made that one up), and the inner marsh. Full disclosure I made most of these names up. But just this list doesn’t even fully describe the scope of the places. Most places I just mentioned contain some kind of cool landmark or several miles of trails. Somehow all covered in trash. For RGP, it’s a blessing and a curse.
Part 2: Spots Tier List
Who would make any kind of list without forming it into some power rankings?
Tier 1(Timeless spots): The Tracks, Bartow Pell, Indian Rock, Hunter Island
All of the above listed spots are either cool or clean or expansive. Must see places if you’re in the area.
Tier 2(The Contenders): Gray Mare, Twin Island, Rodman’s Neck, The Spot, Shore Road Pulloff
Cool places. Gray Mare is the 1b to Indian Rock, Twin Island is the 1b to Hunter Island, and Rodman’s Neck has cool views but has some problems with accessibility. Worth a look. The Spot is on here because of accessibility and nice seating. Quite cozy. Not much else to say. Shore Road Pulloff is trashed and crowded with tough parking. However, worth a visit. Pretty nice spot and could easily move up if taken care of better.
Tier 3(Ehh): City Island Beach, Turtle Cove Coast, Owl Spot
City Island Beach is easily the top of 3. Can be a crowded fishing area but plenty of spots to hang out. City Island right across the bay but lots of boat traffic in the summer. There’s an argument to put this in 2. Turtle Cove Coast has some views but lots and lots of trash and is in a bad spot. Not ideal. The Owl Spot was carried by the owls, which have since left the nest. Falling quickly.
Tier 4(Forgettable) The Orchard Backwoods, The Horse Path, The Inner Marsh, Trash Point
All of these are miscellaneous trails. I’ll listen to horse path over Orchard Backwoods. Advantage of Backwoods (behind city island beach) is diverse trails and views. Horse path is boring and runs along I-95, but has a view of split rock. Inner Marshes, not much to say. Trash Point, absolutely trashed, in a bad location. If there was less garbage it could be a tier 2 but it is disgusting.
These have been the inaugural Pelham Bay Park rankings. More spots and potential updates to come. To support, check out theregrowthproject on IG or theregrowthproject.com.
