Hook Creek natural area

Hook Creek Park is a 111-acre natural area in Rosedale, Queens, NY, in the eastern part of Jamaica Bay. Hook Creek Park is part of the 242-acre Idlewild Marsh complex spanning Brookville, Springfield, Hook Creek, and Idlewild Parks. This marsh became parkland in 1958 after being transferred to NYC Parks from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The salt marshes in Hook Creek Park have been severely fragmented over the past 100 years by agricultural and mosquito ditching, filling for residential developments, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and the creation of Brookville Boulevard, which bisects the salt marsh and separates Hook Creek Park from Idlewild Park.
In 2007, NYC Parks collaborated with the Eastern Queens Alliance to construct a canoe and kayak launch at the southern end of Huxley Street. In 2023, NYC Parks completed a salt marsh restoration project near the kayak launch that restored one acre of salt marsh by spraying a layer of clean sand over the marsh to raise its elevation and increase its resilience to rising sea levels due to climate change. The restoration aimed to create high marsh vegetation, which will transition to low marsh over time with sea level rise.
Getting There
Directions via via Google Maps
Available Activities
Natural Areas Map
Salt Marsh
Grassland
Streams
Total
Learn more about types of natural areas on our Urban Ecosystems page. Note: the acreages listed above are approximate.