Most New Yorkers have never been to Tottenville. It’s the final stop on the Staten Island Railway — the end of the line in the most literal sense — a quiet neighborhood at the southern tip of Staten Island that most residents of the other four boroughs will never visit in their lifetimes. That’s a shame, because Tottenville and the adjacent Conference House Park are one of the most genuinely surprising and beautiful walking destinations in all of New York City.
Why Tottenville Is Worth the Trip
Getting to Tottenville is an adventure in itself. You take the Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan to St. George — a 25-minute free ride with some of the best harbor views anywhere — and then board the Staten Island Railway for a 55-minute ride down the length of the island to the Tottenville terminus. That transit journey, which costs nothing beyond your MetroCard swipe, passes through neighborhoods most New Yorkers have never seen: New Dorp, Great Kills, Eltingville, Annadale. Staten Island’s suburban landscape unfolds block by block, and it looks less like New York City and more like a small town on the Connecticut shore.
When you step off the train at Tottenville, you are standing at the southernmost point of New York City and New York State. Perth Amboy, New Jersey is visible across the Arthur Kill — close enough that it feels like you could shout across. This is the geographic edge of the metropolis, and it has a quiet, end-of-the-earth quality that is genuinely hard to find anywhere closer to Manhattan.
Conference House Park: Over 286 Acres of Trail, History, and Coastal Preserve
From the Tottenville station, it’s a short walk to the entrance of Conference House Park — a 286-acre NYC Parks property that stretches along the shoreline at the island’s southern tip. The park combines maritime forest, salt marsh, beach trail, and freshwater wetland into a walking environment unlike anything else in the five boroughs. More than two miles of trails wind through the grounds, and the network is well-marked and manageable for walkers of most fitness levels.
The centerpiece of the park is the Conference House itself — a 17th-century stone manor house that is one of the oldest buildings in New York City. Built around 1680, the house was the site of the Staten Island Peace Conference in September 1776, one of the last attempts to negotiate a settlement before the Revolutionary War escalated beyond the point of return. British Admiral Lord Howe met with American delegates Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge in this very building. The talks failed, and the war continued — but the house survived, and it stands today as a remarkable artifact of that moment.
Historic house tours are available on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, running through the fall season. Even if you don’t take the tour, walking the grounds around the house — with its views of the water and the surrounding woodland — is worthwhile. A newly expanded trail map is available at the park’s visitor center.
Walking the Coastal Trail
The real reward for walkers at Conference House Park is the coastal trail that follows the shoreline along Raritan Bay. The bay here is open and wide — on clear days you can see the Jersey Shore and, looking east, the faint profile of Sandy Hook. The beach is sandy and rocky in turns, with driftwood, shore birds, and the occasional seal sighting in winter months. The trail passes through stands of mature forest and opens periodically onto the water for views that feel genuinely remote.
Spring is an excellent time to visit. The woodland trails through Conference House Park pass through sections of old-growth maritime forest — thick-canopied red oak and black cherry — that filter the light in ways that feel almost cinematic on a clear morning. Bring a good pair of walking shoes; some trail sections are unpaved and uneven.
What Else Is in Tottenville
The neighborhood of Tottenville itself is worth a short explore before or after your park walk. Main Street near the train station has a handful of local restaurants and coffee shops, and the residential blocks nearby preserve a scale and streetscape that feel more like a Victorian-era New England town than a New York City neighborhood. The oyster shell middens that characterize Tottenville’s shoreline reflect the neighborhood’s long history as an oyster harvesting community — a history the New York Harbor School and various restoration nonprofits are working to revive in Raritan Bay.
What You Need to Know
- Getting there: Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall Terminal (Manhattan) to St. George — free. Then Staten Island Railway (SIR) to Tottenville — included with MetroCard. Total transit time: approximately 80 minutes each way.
- Conference House Park is a short walk from Tottenville station. The park grounds are free and open year-round during daylight hours.
- Historic house tours run Saturdays and Sundays, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Check nycgovparks.org/parks/conference-house-park for the current tour schedule and any seasonal closures.
- The park has over two miles of trails. Trail conditions vary — wear comfortable walking shoes with some grip.
- There are restrooms at the visitor center near the park entrance.
- Budget a full day for the ferry, the railway ride, the park walk, and time to explore the neighborhood. This is not a quick trip, and that is entirely the point.
Tottenville is the kind of place that reminds you New York City is stranger, larger, and more layered than you remember. A 1680 stone manor house where Benjamin Franklin failed to stop a war, surrounded by maritime forest, at the end of a subway line most New Yorkers have never taken — it’s completely New York, and completely unlike anything else in New York at the same time.
For more on what’s happening across Staten Island, see our St. George waterfront development spotlight and the NYC weekend outdoor guide for May 9–11.
