Originally created as Staten Island's response to Manhattan's Central Park and Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Silver Lake Park provides abundant recreational activities amidst plenty of trails and open space to wander. It was at the turn of the last century when Staten Island secured funds and began developing the park, and it continues to flourish more than a century later, complete with an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, sports fields, and many other facilities.

The natural centerpiece of the park is the lake, which in the last 150 years has served numerous purposes: it provided the setting for a casino and saloon, served the ice harvesting industry, held national skating championships, and became the endpoint of the Catskill water supply system for New York City. Improvements and additions through the years have kept the park up with its legacy and it remains an attractive destination for many New Yorkers. Whether it is swinging a club or a racket, kicking a soccer ball or kicking back, Silver Lake Park's 209 acres is bound to have something for you.