Briarcliff Manor has about 180 acres (73 ha) of recreational facilities and parks, all of which are accessible to the public.^[6] The village's library houses its recreation department, which has four staff and a six-member advisory committee, and provides recreation programming for the village. The village's Department of Public Works maintains the village's parks and recreational facilities with one parks foreman and two groundskeeping personnel.^[26] The following are available to Briarcliff Manor residents:^[78]

• The 12-mile (19 km) Briarcliff-Peekskill Trailway runs from the village to the Blue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill. The parkland was acquired for use by the Briarcliff-Peekskill Parkway (now part of New York State Route 9A); the parkway later changed course, freeing the land for trail use.^[79]
• Chilmark Park, 8.3 acres (3.4 ha) on Macy Road, formerly the Chilmark Country Club. The park has six tennis courts (two clay, two all-weather and two green clay), a half-court basketball court, a soccer field, a baseball-softball field and a playground. Renovation of the athletic fields and basketball court and the addition of a restroom are planned.
• The Hardscrabble Wilderness Area is a 235-acre (95 ha) network of wilderness trails.^[80]
• The 4.76-acre (1.93 ha) Jackson Road Park, dedicated in 1975, features two half-court basketball courts: one with a standard 10-foot (3.0 m) rim and one with a 9-foot (2.7 m) rim for younger players. The playground was renovated in 2005. About half of the park is undeveloped wetlands.
• The 1-mile (1.6 km) Kate Kennard Trail, named for the late daughter of a former mayor, was dedicated in 1988. It begins on Long Hill West, west of the Aspinwall Road intersection.
• Lynn McCrum Field, named for Briarcliff Manor's second village manager, was dedicated in June 1999.^[5](p61) The field, at the corner of Chappaqua Road and Route 9A, has a multi-purpose playing field for baseball, softball and soccer, parking for 50 cars and a utility building with restrooms.

• Neighborhood Park, dedicated in 1954 and augmented in 1958 and 1964, is 5 acres (2.0 ha) at the corner of Whitson and Fuller Roads adjacent to Schrade Road. The Whitson Road side of the park has a youth baseball field; a basketball court and playground are accessible from the Schrade Road entrance.
• Nichols Nature Area, accessible from Nichols Place, is a steeply sloped 3.8-acre (1.5 ha) site acquired in 1973 as part of a residential subdivision.
• The Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park, running along the Old Croton Aqueduct, crosses the village between Broadway and the Hudson River. Its 26.2-mile (42.2 km) trail, following the aqueduct from the Croton Reservoir to New York City, is a popular bicycling and running path maintained by New York State. Access from the village is from Scarborough Road north of the Scarborough Fire Station.
• Pine Road Park, an undeveloped 66-acre (27 ha) parcel acquired in 1948 and augmented in 1963, lies between Pine Road and Long Hill Road East.
• The 70.9-acre (28.7 ha) Pocantico Park, Briarcliff Manor's largest park, was acquired in 1948 and augmented in 1963, 1964 and 1967. Abutting the Pocantico River, it is home to a large number and variety of regional fauna and has marked hiking trails.^[14]
• The Recreation Center, purchased by the village in 1980, is the former Chilmark Country Club clubhouse and provides seasonal indoor recreation. Community organizations using the center include the Briarcliff Manor Garden Club, the Senior Citizens Club and the Max Pavey Chess Club.^[81]
• Scarborough Park, a 6-acre (2.4 ha) park acquired in 1908 and developed in the early 1900s near the Scarborough train station, is surrounded on three sides by the Hudson River. One acre is above-water land, and the rest is below the Hudson.^[18][41]
• The 2,400-square-foot (220 m²) Village Youth Center, near the central business district, has a deck, a patio and a lighted outdoor basketball court. It also provides an indoor facility for community programs and activities.^[82]
• Walter W. Law Memorial Park (originally Liberty Park),^[3](p85) in the center of the village on Pleasantville Road, is a 7-acre (2.8 ha) park which was donated to the village by Law in 1904.^[1] The village pool, added in July 1927 at a cost of $8,641 ($117,300 today^[74]), has a 120-by-75-foot (37 m × 23 m) main pool and a 30-foot-diameter (9.1 m) wading pool;^[1] it was Westchester's first public swimming pool.^[5](p2) After a complete reconstruction of the pool in 1977,^[3](p79) a two-story bathhouse and pavilion was completed in 2001 as part of a rehabilitation project, which included paved walkways and a veterans' memorial.^[7] The park was rededicated on Veterans Day 2001.^[14] It has four lighted tennis courts: three clay and one all-weather. The pond was used for ice skating and hockey until the village bought a temporary rink for one of the tennis courts; the shallow rink freezes days earlier than the pond, and the tennis court lighting system allows easier skating at night.^[83] Adjacent to the tennis courts is a playground. Two platform tennis courts are north of the park, and the Briarcliff Manor Public Library is on its eastern edge.

The library, part of the Westchester Library System,^[41] was founded and sponsored in 1914 by the Briarcliff Community Club and registered with New York State in 1921. In 1928 the Community Club property was sold; the library was housed in several locations for the next 30 years, until moving to its present home on January 20, 1959.^[20] It became a public library in 1964. The library is staffed by a director, 2 ³⁄₄ full-time and eight part-time employees, including reference and youth librarians. It is governed by a seven-member board, with a liaison to the village board. Services include computer classes, book-discussion groups, young-adult programs, a children's room and a local-history collection. Library spending comprises about four percent of the village budget. The library, which had 3,200 square feet (300 m²), had no wireless capacity and poor shelving and lighting,^[84] so a $4 million bond resolution ($4.68 million today^[74]) was passed in 2006 for a two-story, 6,600-square-foot addition to house the library, which opened February 19, 2009.^[41] The part of the building that formerly housed the library will be renovated and become the Briarcliff Manor Community Center.^[85]

• The Westchester County Bike Trail (also known as the North County Trailway) is a 22.1-mile (35.6 km) long rail trail criss-crossing forests, towns and highways. One highlight is the New Croton Reservoir and its former railway bridge. Trail access from the village is behind the library, off Pleasantville Road. The trail extends north (primarily along Route 100) to Baldwin Place in Somers, and south along Route 9A to Eastview in Mount Pleasant.^[41][86]

Although there are no public golf courses in Briarcliff Manor, the village has two large country clubs: Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough and Trump National Golf Club, owned by Donald Trump.^[87] The Trump property has been home to several golf clubs since the early 20th century, including Briarcliff Golf Club, Briar Hills Country Club and Briar Hall Country Club. Trump purchased the site in 1997 and opened the club in 2002.^[7] The main building of Sleepy Hollow Country Club was formerly Woodlea, the 140-room Renaissance Revival mansion of Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard and her husband. The building, which has about 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²), is one of the largest houses in the United States.^[88](p163)