Outdoor activities to try on Long Island, New York State this spring

A trail ride or train ride through history. A cruise to a lighthouse or offshore waters teeming with sport fish. A rollicking ride through not one — but two — upstate New York grand canyons. These are just a sampling of the outdoor adventures to be enjoyed this spring from the South Shore to the city and beyond. Here are 10 ways to spring into action.

Fish for the big ones by land or sea

April is open season for casting a line to catch flounder, striped bass, blackfish and other saltwater fish that put up a good fight before landing on your dinner plate. Try your luck with rod and reel at public piers equipped with bait, tackle and snack shops at Jones Beach State Park Field 10 in Wantagh (2400 Ocean Pkwy., Wantagh; 516- 785-1600, parks.ny.gov) and Captree State Park in Bay Shore (3500 E. Ocean Pkwy., Bay Shore, 631-669-6464, captreefleet.com). Anglers 16 or older need to register with the Recreational Marine Fishing Registry at dec.ny.gov/permits. Or cruise to where the fish are biting on open boats and charters leaving regularly from Freeport’s Nautical Mile, Montauk’s West Lake Drive and the Island’s largest public fishing fleet at the Captree boat basin.

Ride where the Rough Riders slept

Thousand-acre Montauk County Park is the historic home of Deep Hollow Ranch (8 Old Montauk Hwy, Montauk; 631-668-2744, deephollowranch.org). Guided horseback rides clip-clop over the park’s hills and dales, past an oyster pond and along a pristine outerbeach with a million-dollar view of the Montauk Lighthouse. Montauk County Park landmarks include a Montaukett Native American village and burial ground, the vestiges of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders camp and The Third House Nature Center. Deep Hollow Ranch is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., daily, year-round; Excursions include 1½-hour beach and trail ride/ $150 per person, must be 8 or older; $75/ 25-minute parkland trail ride, 6 or older (25 minutes); $10/ corral pony rides for children under 6.

Blaze the new Empire State Trail

Bicyclists can follow a path to adventure along the new 750-mile Empire State Trail from New York City to the Canadian border (empiretrail.ny.gov). The trail begins at Manhattan’s Battery Park, where the May 7 Five Boro Bike Tour sends tens of thousands trekking on city streets closed to traffic. (Register at bike.nyc, $129)

For a little more pampering, Gotham Bicycle Tours (917-748-1119, gothambiketours.com), offers “personal attention to everybody,” including on-the road repairs, said Lukas Herbert, co-owner with his partner, Laura Willis. Upcoming are Hudson Valley Craft Brewery Bike Tours (April 16, May 14, June 11, $105) and a six-day Empire State Trail Vacation, June 15-20, from New York City to Saratoga Springs. ($1,125 to $2,775 including lodgings.) 

See the flowers that bloom in the Bronx

Spring is busting out all over at New York Botanical Garden (2900 Southern Blvd, the Bronx; 718-817-8700, nybg.org, $15-$35 All Garden Pass), a 250-acre greenway where rolling hills are ablaze with daffodils, blossoming cherry trees and fields of azaleas. Kids can play and learn in a children’s adventure garden and adults over 21 can enjoy cocktails in a magnificent glass conservatory on Orchid Nights ($39), April 21 and 22 (nybg.org). The show runs through April 23; tickets are $35, seniors and students, $31, children 2-12, $15.

Hike the Hudson River Cascade or Giant Stairs

Thirty miles of marked but still pretty wild nature trails descend to the mighty Hudson River from State Line Lookout, a park perched at the 520-foot high point of the Palisades. Head out from the food concession building for an easy stroll through the woods on Old Route 9W, a 1½-mile stretch of retired concrete highway. Leave the youngsters behind for the Peanut Leap Cascade Hike, a stone-stair descent named for the waterfall that splashes down a fierce-looking rock ledge. And only experienced hikers should attempt the three-hours-plus Giant Stairs Hike, a 4.3-mile round trip with a midway scramble over big rocks. Entrance about two miles north of Palisades Interstate Parkway exit 2, in Alpine, New Jersey, 201-750-0465, njpalisades.org.

Explore the Adirondacks' own 'Grand Canyon'

Any way you look at it — from a raft, inner tube or hiking trail — The Ausable Chasm (2144 US-9, Ausable Chasm; 518-834-7454, ausablechasm.com) is an awe-inspiring Adirondacks marvel. Carved 15,000 years ago by the last Ice Age, it’s one of the nation’s oldest organized tourist attractions. Get a close-up look at all that geologic splendor on one of the floating raft tours starting in May. You’ll ride under towering cliffs, past stunning rock formations, through rolling rapids and around a whirlpool basin. ($39.95-$49.95 including admission to 5 miles of hiking trails. Restricted to guests weighing more than 30 pounds. Packages for overnight accommodations, tubing, rock-climbing and rappelling.)

Ride a hot-air balloon over a gorge

Touted as the home of the Grand Canyon of the East, Letchworth State Park, (1 Letchworth State Park, Castile; 585-493-3600, parks.ny.gov) is a 17-mile-long, 14,500-acre outdoor playland. It pretty much lives up to its nickname as it follows the Genesee River Valley gorge. Hikers can follow trails to 100 waterfalls, ranging from cascades hundreds of feet high to cliffside trickles. Whitewater rafting expeditions run the rapids beginning in April with Adventure Calls Outfitters (585-343-4710, Adventure-calls.com, $50 per person). For a bird’s-eye view, sunset and sunrise hot-air balloon rides from the upper falls begin in May and include the Memorial Day weekend Red, White and Blue Balloon Festival (585-493-3340, balloonsoverletchworth.com).

Ride the Connecticut River like Mark Twain

All aboard the Connecticut choo-choo! The Valley Railroad Company, operating since 1868, runs its old-timey steam-powered locomotives from the historic 1892 Essex Station beginning in mid-May. The options include a one-hour rail tour of the Connecticut River Valley and its charming New England towns. Or see the Connecticut River as onetime Hartford resident Mark Twain might have aboard the multideck Becky Thatcher riverboat. A 2½-hour Train & Riverboat Excursion passes Gillette Castle, built by legendary Sherlock Holmes portrayer actor William Gillette. (The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat; 1 Railroad Ave., Essex, Connecticut, 860-767-0103, essexsteamtrain.com, beginning May 13, $25-$60.)

Take lighthouse tour — on the other side of the Sound

Connecticut’s Long Island coast is a shore thing for lighthouse lovers, with many a historic beacon accessible by land, sea or foot. The New London Maritime Society offers 45-minute tours that include a steep 116-step climb to the lantern room of New London’s towering Harbor "Pequot" Lighthouse. (nlmaritimesociety.org, $25-$35) For seagoing tourists, the Cross Sound Ferry lighthouse cruise visits the state’s newest tower at Avery Point, and the red-and-white Colonial Revival Ledge Lighthouse at the entrance to New London Harbor.

Slide down a Berkshires mountain — without skis

The Alpine Super Slide at the Jiminy Peak Mountain Adventure Park is open Memorial Day weekend and weekends through late June, then daily through Labor Day. (37 Corey Rd., Hancock, Massachusetts; 413- 738-5500, jiminypeak.com). Riders must be at least 48 inches tall, passengers 3 and older and 38 to 47 inches tall accompanied by a ticketed rider 16 or older. single rides $10-$15.) For a just plain fun spring fling, take a chairlift to 900 feet, then ride a sled through tunnels, twists and turns along a 2,890-foot track built into the mountainside.