It’s another nice day on Staten Island, and we decided to take a walk at one of our favorite parks Mt Loretto Unique Area. This is not the largest park but does have some cool areas to explore. Mt. Loretto was once the largest orphanage in New York State. The park is split in half, and the other side is North Mount Loretto State Forest. The other feature on the other side is the Old Church of St. Joachim and St. Anne which was the location used in the movie The Godfather in 1972. This is our trip to Mt Loretto
Mt. Loretto is the opposite side of Staten Island, but is an easy drive. It is only around at 15-minute drive with traffic. One of the main roads is Hylan Blvd, which is right off Miller Field and goes straight to Mt. Loretto. Ana was excited as always; she likes to explore. She has been there before but only once or twice in the last year due to Covid. The last time we went is was too hot and the time before too cold. Today the weather was hot but not overly hot.
Two of the features at Mt Loretto is the light house and the view of the ocean from the observation deck. The Prince Bay Lighthouse has a main road and a trail. The lighthouse is not open to the public but the road and trail leading up to the lighthouse is open. Getting to the lighthouse is a good walk all uphill but worth the walk. The trail overlooks the Raritan Bay, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean. There is also an overlook on Cunningham pond, which also has a great view, and in the past, we spotted a bald eagle.
Today since Ana was walking with us, we decided to only go to the overlook on Raritan Bay, and walk down to the beach and let Ana throw some rocks into the water. Walking up to the lighthouse Ana would be exhausted. Even with just walking to the overlook on the way back Ana ran out of energy and I ended up carrying her most of the way back to the car. Overall, the view from the lighthouse or the overlook is worth the trip to Mt. Loretto.
