Van Cortlandt Park is the second largest park in the Bronx and third largest in New York City, occupying 1,146 acres (464 ha). Within the park is the Van Cortlandt House Museum, the oldest building in the Bronx and once home to several generations of the Cortlandt family for 140 years. The Cortland family once owned the area and later sold the land to New York City in 1888, converting it into a public park. Woodlawn Subway Station serves the eastern side of the park while the Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street Station serves the western side.
Van Cortlandt Park features open fields, forested areas, ridges, and valleys. There is also a lake and is the largest freshwater lake in the Bronx. The park is popular with cross-country joggers with several unpaved trails forming various challenges passing through the woods, ridges, and valleys. Opened in 1895, the Van Cortlandt Golf Course is the first public golf course in the United States. Facilities at the park include baseball fields, soccer fields, basketball courts, cricket pitches, and playgrounds for kids.
