The 160-acre (65 ha) park features riverside views of the New Jersey Palisades and the George Washington Bridge.

The Henry Hudson Parkway (NY 9A) and Amtrak's Empire Connection run through the western part of the park.

[3] Improvements to the park in the 1910s, which entailed clearing hundreds of trees for bridle paths and walkways, resulted in a lawsuit from sculptor Gutzon Borglum.

[11] Another project in the same area concerned the presence of the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line (now the Empire Connection) within the park.

[12] Concurrently, Riverside Drive was to be extended northward through Fort Washington Park and to the Bronx.

[3] During construction, one advocacy group expressed concerns that the presence of the bridge's towers would degrade the quality of Fort Washington Park directly underneath.

A connection between the new bike path and the existing Manhattan Waterfront Greenway at 180th Street would cost $22 million, since it would require the construction of additional shoreline on the river.

[29] The Inspiration Point shelter is located in the park, close to the intersection of the Henry Hudson Parkway and 181st Street.

[31] The Little Red Lighthouse is located on a spit of land under the George Washington Bridge, called Jeffrey's Hook.

[32][33] The current lighthouse, which replaced a rudimentary indicator, was initially located at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and was decommissioned at that site in 1917.

[33] The United States Coast Guard initially intended to sell off the lighthouse, but decided against doing so after protests from local children.

[33] The Little Red Lighthouse is both on the National Register of Historic Places[35] and a designated New York City Landmark.

The area between 155th and 165th Streets is the only portion of Fort Washington Park with active recreational facilities.