On paper, Little Falls Park is a roughly 32-acre town property along Quassaick Creek with its entrance off Bradford Avenue. One path already crosses it, running between Bradford Avenue and Walsh Avenue. That path is now the New Windsor starting point for a much longer plan. It would follow the creek toward the Hudson River and link up with Snake Hill and Ruscitti Field. Most of the work that will settle how it looks is happening between September and the end of this year.
The Town's recreation calendar lists a Little Falls Park Open House on Saturday, November 14, from noon to 3 p.m. The park is listed at Bradford Avenue. That afternoon falls in the middle of several months of decisions about this stretch of creek.
Over September and October, three public bodies made separate moves that all point at the same creek.
None of these is a finished project. The Ellis Avenue land is a proposed purchase. The Highlands vote makes New Windsor eligible to apply. As the Times Hudson Valley story on the vote put it, it "does not mean that the town has received the funding." Taken together, though, the three moves show two municipalities and a regional land trust working toward the same creek corridor.
It helps to know which features exist today and which are still on paper before walking the site on the 14th.
| Element | Status as of early November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Path between Bradford Avenue and Walsh Avenue | Exists |
| Roughly 32 acres along Quassaick Creek | Town property; formal dedication as parkland in progress |
| Walking trails, two ponds, recreation areas | Preliminary plans |
| Path extended along the creek toward the Hudson, Snake Hill and Ruscitti Field | Goal of the site plan Scenic Hudson is funding with $50,000 |
| Federal Highlands assistance | Town Board supports inclusion; no funding awarded |
The ponds and trails in the preliminary plans were described in October reporting as part of "a larger network of trails and public green spaces." In other words, the plan treats Little Falls as a link in a chain more than a destination on its own.
The Highlands region covers more than 3 million acres across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. According to the town's resolution, it includes drinking water sources serving more than 15 million people. The Highlands Conservation Act became law in 2004. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service runs its grant program, which is voluntary and open to state and local governments and to private forest and farm owners.
Bedetti said Recreation Director Jessica Dickinson brought the program to his attention. He described the vote's purpose to Times Hudson Valley this way:
"By us just doing this resolution, it opens the door for us to get some federal funding."
The same report says the town hopes to secure as much federal money as possible for projects like Little Falls Park. It describes the Highlands program as another possible source for work that connects parks, trails and other protected areas. Scenic Hudson's $50,000 pays for the plan. Federal and state money is what the town is pursuing to build it.
The Quassaick Creek Greenway is planned as roughly 2.5 miles of trail along the creek, stretching from the Hudson River toward Snake Hill and connecting Newburgh and New Windsor, as Times Hudson Valley described it. According to the project's own site, Scenic Hudson leads the effort with local residents and a steering committee. The committee includes the City of Newburgh, Orange County Planning, Orange County Land Trust, Outdoor Promise, the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance, Riverkeeper, and the Town of New Windsor Parks and Recreation.
Some land is already secured. Scenic Hudson's 2025 annual report says it worked with the City of Newburgh and Orange County Land Trust to conserve a three-acre first building block for the trail. The larger plan ties together the Hudson waterfront, Muchattoes Lake and Crystal Lake. The former Diamond Candle Factory property, which is undergoing environmental assessment, has been named as a possible public park site.
The creek has been a center of activity in New Windsor before. The Town Historian identifies Quassaick Bridge, also called Clancyville, as an early-19th-century community built around manufacturing mills on the creek. The greenway would bring a new kind of use to that same water.
One piece of the route is open now, and it is the piece with the view. Scenic Hudson's Snake Hill is a 95-acre preserve in New Windsor with a 700-foot summit, open dawn to dusk and listed at San Giacomo Drive. Scenic Hudson recommends starting at Crystal Lake in Newburgh. From there, a 1.5-mile woodland trail climbs steadily to an overlook of the Hudson Highlands and the river running between them. Leashed dogs are allowed, and the activity list includes cross-country skiing and snowshoeing for the colder months ahead.
Crystal Lake, at the bottom of that climb, has trails, a community garden, gateway parking, benches and bike racks, according to Scenic Hudson. Snake Hill sits at the upper end of the planned greenway. Walking Crystal Lake to the summit gives a good sense of what the whole corridor is meant to connect, before the Little Falls segment is drawn.
The open house on the 14th is the one date set at the park itself, on a site where trails, ponds and the route to the river are still in planning.
I follow projects like Little Falls Park and the Quassaick Creek Greenway closely because they shape how New Windsor's streets and open spaces connect for years. If you'd like to talk through what the creek corridor could mean for your property on or near Bradford Avenue, Walsh Avenue or the Snake Hill side of town, Kathryn DeCrosta is glad to help. Call or Text to Connect.
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