Bronx River Parkway
Bronx River Parkway is a State Scenic Byway in New York. Within New York it covers roughly 19 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Bronx River Parkway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Bronx River Parkway began construction in Westchester County, New York in 1907, the nation's first roadway built purely for the pleasure of driving. Laid out through the newly created Bronx River Reservation, Westchester's first park, the parkway introduced design ideas that had never been combined on an American road before: a landscaped median dividing opposing traffic, cross streets carried overhead on bridges rather than at grade, and a route curated for scenery rather than speed. Three other early American parkways were modeled directly on what engineers learned here. Today the New York State Scenic Byway designation covers the parkway from the Bronx-Westchester county line north to the Kensico Dam Plaza, following the Bronx River through a strip of restored parkland that runs improbably close to dense New York City suburbs. The road curves gently along the river's floodplain, shaded by mature trees grown in since the reservation's original 1920s plantings, offering a slower, greener alternative to the parallel interstate just beyond the tree line.
- Westchester County, NY
- construction began 1907
- first American parkway
- first median-divided highway
- Bronx River Reservation
- Kensico Dam Plaza
Plan a drive on Bronx River Parkway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Bronx River Parkway
No campgrounds are listed close to Bronx River Parkway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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