Gateway National Recreation Area
New York, New Jersey
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.3 h fully dark
Crowds
very high
Open today
Open
Entrance
Free entry
Ryan Visitor Center Phone Line Out of Service
The Floyd Bennett Field Ryan Visitor Center phone line (718-338-3799) is out of service. For information on ranger programs in the Jamaica Bay Unit, call the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center at 718-318-4340. For questions about permits, events, or other park information, call the general park information line at 718-354-4606. For emergencies, call U.S. Park Police's 24-hour dispatch at 718-354-4700.
Jacob Riis Park Access Restrictions
Due to extremely hazardous conditions Gateway National Recreation Area has restricted access to sections of Jacob Riis Park. Erosion has created unsafe conditions from Bays 1-5, and portions of the eastern beach are closed.
Official NPS alert →North Beach Tip at Sandy Hook closed
North Beach Tip at Sandy Hook is closed to access until further notice due to nesting bird activity.
Official NPS alert →Dead Horse Bay (Brooklyn) Remains Closed to the Public
The entire southern area of Dead Horse Bay, including Glass Bottle Beach, is closed to the public. Dead Horse Bay is located in Brooklyn, NYC.
Spring Creek (Queens) Closed to the Public
Spring Creek is closed to the public at this time. The NPS is conducting field investigations as part of a Remedial Investigation at the site. Spring Creek is located in Queens, NYC.
Official NPS alert →Dogs Not allowed on ocean beaches in Jamaica Bay and Sandy Hook March 15- Sept. 15
Dogs are not allowed on ocean beaches at Sandy Hook between March 15 through September 15. Dogs are not allowed on the ocean beaches at Jacob Riis Park, Fort Tilden, Breezy Point Tip and at the bayside of Breezy Point between March 15 through September 15
Official NPS alert →Spanning 27,000 acres from Sandy Hook in New Jersey to Breezy Point in New York City, the park is both the gateway from the ocean into New York Harbor, and the gateway to the National Park Service for millions of visitors every year. Gateway offers green spaces and beaches alongside historic structures and cultural landscapes. Every day, Gateway is open for you to explore, envision, and enjoy!
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
Includes Bergen Beach, Floyd Bennett Field, Fort Tilden, Frank Charles Park, Hamilton Beach, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Canarsie Pier, Jacob Riis Park, North Channel Bridge, Plumb Beach and Spring Creek.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 7183544606
✉ daphne_yun@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Dec
Typical crowds: very high
Weather now: ☀️ Clear, 83°F
☁️ 85°/76°
🌦️ 88°/75°
☁️ 89°/73°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
44%
Feb
42%
Mar
49%
Apr
53%
May
73%
Jun
84%
Jul
100%
Aug
99%
Sep
78%
Oct
69%
Nov
53%
Dec
41%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Live conditions
YPYH 2014 ↗inactive
Things to do
Fishing at Gateway · Many people fish for long periods of time, but you can also just fish for an hour or so.
Sandy Hook Multi Use Path
Cross Country Skiing at Floyd Bennett Field
Birdwatching at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge · Spend an hour or a day working on your life list. (The list of types of birds you've seen during your life).
Campgrounds
Fort Wadsworth Campsite ↗ · 7 sites
Sandy Hook Camp Ground ↗ · 20 sites
Visitor centers
Fort Wadsworth Visitor Center
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Ryan Visitor Center
Sandy Hook Visitors Center- Lighthouse Keepers Quarters
Accessibility
57 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Gateway National Recreation Area — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Gateway National Recreation Area — each spans a cross-park journey.
Shirley Chisholm
— Women's History, Presidential History, Political HistoryPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Fort Wadsworth Visitor Center
🎫 Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
🎫 Ryan Visitor Center
🎫 Sandy Hook Visitors Center- Lighthouse Keepers Quarters
Places to see
20 Inch Rodman Gun
Bachelors Officers' Quarters or BOQ
audio
Barracks 22 and 74
audio
Barracks 25, the "WAC Palace"
audio
Barracks Rows and Mess Halls
audioBattery Caitlin
Battery Granger
audio
Battery Gunnison
audio
Battery Kingman
Battery Mills
Battery Peck
audio
Battery Potter
audioAudio & media
🎧 Welikia: The past, present and future ecology of New York City ↗ · 15 mintranscript
🎧 Gray Tree Frogs at Sunset ↗ · 0 mintranscript
🎬
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Learn more
Recipients of the 2006 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
On behalf of the Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers Directorate, we are pleased to congratulate the national recipients of the 2021 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Through their extraordinary work and dedication, these volunteers have made an exceptional contribution to their parks and communities.
Gateway National Recreation Area (GATE) consists of 10,783 hectares of coastal uplands, freshwater ponds, marshes, bays, beaches, and mudflats. Established in 1972, it is divided into three geographically separate units: Jamaica Bay, Staten Island, and Sandy Hook. The Jamaica Bay Unit encompasses almost all of island uplands and wetlands within Jamaica Bay. Thus, estuarine resources of GATE are fully contained within Jamaica Bay. The target population for estuarine...
The National Park Service congratulates the regional recipients of the 2023 Excellence in Volunteerism Awards. These nominees embody the values of service, engagement, and stewardship fundamental to our national parks.
Do you know your parks!? Celebrate 50 years with this fun activity including trivia from Glen Canyon, Gateway and Golden Gate National Recreation Areas.
Fire Management program, four years in the making
Dr. Peter August, a University of Rhode Island professor who specializes in GIS, has collaborated with the National Park Service (NPS) for over 20 years. After Hurricane Sandy, August led the team that created the very first bytes of GIS data for several National Parks in the northeast coastal region. They gathered essential elevation data and established a data management system so that coastal parks will be better prepared for future storms.
Al Germaine, a child at Fort Hancock in the 1930s, recounts his experience at Sandy Hook in an oral history. Key Topics: daily life, community traditions, military routines, leisure and recreation, family life
Ranger School
Park-grounded courses you can learn with the Ranger.
How Gateway National Recreation Area connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
Park
Activity
Topic
State
Campground
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
ThingToDo
Alert
Similar parks
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