NYC Weekend Excursions - Van Saun County Park & San Point Reserve
Two family-friendly parks an hour from New York City. Both places cover large grounds and have multiple activities that you can spend a whole there.
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itinerary
highlights
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Day 1 Itinerary
Places visited: Van Saun County Park - Van Saun Park Carousel - Van Saun County Park
Van Saun County Park
This county park has a small zoo with an around-the-zoo train ride, a carousel, a large playground, and a few tennis courts.
Van Saun Park Carousel
Van Saun County Park
Day 2 Itinerary
Places visited: Sands Point Preserve - Castle Gould - Sands Point Preserve - Sands Point Preserve - Hempstead House - Sands Point Preserve
Picnic @ Sands Point Preserve
Open lawn space with a lot of shaded areas thanks to the trees. Everyone enjoyed the picnic! (And thank god for the free chopsticks that fell on our lap out of nowhere … we would have to eat with our hands otherwise)
Castle Gould
Sands Point Preserve
Secret Beach @ Sands Point Preserve
Loved this beach … no crowd, no litter, probably the cleanest beach we have seen in the greater NYC area. Decently sandy with small pebbles and overall a great beach for stone picking and swimming (more like ocean dipping as swimming is not technically allowed when there is no lifeguard).
Hempstead House
A beautiful Tudor-style mansion … we felt like we were in Europe! It was the main building of the opulent summer residence for the Guggenheim family.
Sands Point Preserve
This playground has a mini-zip line. Super fun for adults too but we felt weird standing in line with other kids 🙃