Home to the Trailside Nature Museum

The 4,315-acre park makes Ward Pound Ridge Reservation the county’s largest park. With its varied terrain and landscapes and miles of wooded trails, the park provides a variety of activities in all seasons. There are areas for picnicking, lean-to camping, fishing and cross-country skiing. 

Originally part of Cortlandt Manor, the reservation was settled by farmers from Connecticut. The name Pound Ridge is credited to the Indians who originally lived in the area. They had a local pound in which they kept game on the hoof until they needed it for food. The Indians built an enclosure of saplings driven into the ground and drove their game into the pound. The name was spelled “Poundridge” until 1938, when the county bought the property and added the “Ward” to honor William Lukens Ward, Westchester’s Republican county leader from 1896 to 1933. Continue reading about this park's history...

The park is home to the Trailside Nature Museum, which hosts weekend nature interpretive programs and the Art in Parks program, where exhibitions of work by accomplished regional artists are held throughout the year. 

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is a Biodiversity Reserve Area. Please help us take care of this unique place by following our simple stewardship rules.

Friends of the Trailside Nature Museum and Ward Pound Ridge invite you to join its efforts to support ongoing and special museum programs.