2025 ultimate guide to winter fun on Long Island: Sledding, hiking and more

Caumsett is a favorite because of its outstanding views of Long Island Sound, said George Gorman, regional director of New York State parks on Long Island.

A CRESLI scientist leads a two-hour expeditions to view, photograph and gather information about the diversity and distribution of the seals on the Riverhead Peconic around Shinnecock Bay. Meet and board 30 minutes before the listed departure at the dock area of the Stony Brook Marine Station. Spaces are limited and registration is required.

Season 10 a.m. Jan. 25, 10 a.m., Feb. 8, 2 p.m., Feb. 15, 9 a.m. Feb. 22, noon March 1, 10 a.m. March 8, 2 p.m. March 15, 9 a.m. March 22, 10 a.m. April 6

Fee $40.

Season September through mid-June

Cost Residents with park pass: $9, $7 ages 16 and younger; nonresidents: $15, $11 ages 16 and younger; $6 skate rental.

Hours 12:30-2:30 p.m. Mon.; 10 a.m.-noon and 12:30-2:30 p.m. Tue.; 10 a.m.-noon, 12:30-2:30 p.m. and 2:45-4:30 p.m. Wed.; 10 a.m.-noon and 12:30-2:30 p.m. Thurs.; 12:30-2:30 p.m., 3-5 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. Fri.; 12-1:30 p.m. and 3-4:30 p.m. Sat.; 12:15-1:45 p.m., 3:15-4:45 p.m. and 7:30-9:30 p.m. Sun.

More info Public sessions are open to Great Neck Park District residents and nonresidents. Skating programs/private lessons are available.

The slope is short and not very steep at Hempstead Lake State Park, but it’s scenic. The hill begins where Lake Drive meets Peninsula Boulevard and ends with a view of human-made (and most likely frozen-over) McDonald Pond. It’s pretty much a bunny hill, best for families with young children. Park in Field 3 for easy access to the sledding area. And not to worry: A safety fence installed by park workers at the bottom of the slope keeps sledders from overshooting into the pond.

 "The preserve has 50 miles of hiking, bridle, cross country, cross-country skiing ski and nature trails, all good for snowshoeing," says Jessica Anderson-Ruiz, Connetquot park manager.

Short and steep, the lone hill gives some of the best sledding. It’s a round hill, allowing sledders to slide down in any direction.

Two-hour cruise aboard the Captain Lou VII or Starstream VII leaves out of Freeport. A naturalist onboard discusses the behavior and biology of seals and other wildlife you’ll see. The two-hour tour includes an open discussion. Heated cabin and food for purchase (cash only). Reservation required for boarding times and dates.

Season Jan.-April.

Fee $39, $34 ages 12 and younger

Cedar Creek’s sledding hills are easy to find. They’re next to parking fields at the south end of the park. The sledding is intermediate, on hills bordered by tall trees, including some evergreens. One of the hills is bowl-shaped, offering an up-and-down roller-coaster ride.

About 4 miles 

Take a round-trip hike to the tip of the Jessup’s Neck peninsula or a self-guided Wild Birds Nature Trail loop.

The Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge can make hikers feel like they’ve gone off the Hamptons map. It’s a wildlife wonderland just a few miles from the nightlife of the East End. The refuge encompasses "pretty much every coastal habitat" including maritime forests, tidal wetlands, ponds, beaches and lagoons within its 187 acres, park ranger Ann Marie Chapman says. "Depending on how late it is in the year, I’ve heard loons calling in the bay," Chapman says. Trailheads are located near the refuge entrance fee station and public restrooms.

Getting there: From Route 27, turn north onto Sandy Hollow Road in Tuckahoe, turn left onto North Sea Road and then right onto Noyac Road. Follow Noyac Road to the refuge entrance.

More info: The refuge is open from ½ hour before sunrise until ½ hour after sunset; $4 parking fee, $2 pedestrian/bike fee.

Shorter routes:

1.2 miles: Wild Birds Nature Trail

A must for bird watchers, this trail loops over relatively flat terrain, crossing through milkweed meadows and woods and over bridges spanning tidal creeks. About midway through the loop, an observation deck overlooks a scenic freshwater pond. Bring binoculars to spot songbirds and monarch butterflies on their annual fall migrations.

0.27 miles: Beach Trail

You’re bound for the beachfront on Little Peconic Bay, where Chapman says hikers often find large whelk sea snail shells and spot (and report to wildlife authorities) cold-stunned sea turtles. When you reach the entrance to the beach, be sure to use the free scope on the recently constructed elevated platform for a 360-degree panorama of Jessup’s Neck, the bay and tidal flats, Chapman says.

2 miles round trip: Jessup’s Neck

The tip of Jessup’s Neck, the peninsula that separates Little Peconic Bay and Noyack Bay and comprises most of the refuge, is closed to humans during the from April to August during bird nesting season. But it reopens in the fall for that hiker’s end-of-the-earth vibe.

The end of this trail can be breathtaking. "When you are walking out to the end of the peninsula, you are walking at the foot of 50-foot bluffs for a sweeping panorama of the North Fork and surrounding bays," Chapman says.

Although you’re actually just midway through your hike, looking at that dramatic seascape, Chapman says, "It’s kind of like you’ve reached the edge of the world. It’s a window into what the area looked like since time immemorial."

A two-hour seal-watching and eco-tour on a 44-foot enclosed boat departs weekends at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Reservations required.

Season Mar.-Apr.

Fee $35, $25 ages 12 and younger.

Meet at the park office in the lower lot next to the playground for this two-mile, round-trip hike to see seals and learn about their habits, behaviors and population trends.

Season Nov. 16-April 13

Fee $4 ages 3 and older plus $8 vehicle fee through-Nov. 17, reservations required; call to schedule. Dress warmly.

Meet at the Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center to learn about seals and follow an educator in their vehicle to the seal-watching location at Jones Beach for a guided walk.

Season Jan.-March

Fee $4 ages 3 and older reservations required. Visit jonesbeachenc.org for program sign-ups.

There is a 6-mile loop around the emptied Stump Pond, so you start and end in the same place.

Season Through the first weekend in March, weather depending.

Cost $8, $5 ages 17 and younger. Price includes skate rentals.

Hours 4-8 p.m. Thur.-Fri., noon-8 p.m. Sat., noon-6 p.m. Sun. No double blades permitted on the ice, brief intermissions will be held for ice resurfacing.

More info Offers public sessions and learn to skate.

Tour departs from the area near the fence at the western end of the parking lot. The walk is about 1.2 miles round trip and takes about 90 minutes; weather permitting. Meet 15 minutes before departure. The path is not suitable for strollers. Online reservations are required. There are no bathroom facilities available at this park during the winter.

Season Late Nov.-Early April

Fee Suggested donation: $5, $3 younger than 18.

There’s no need to travel upstate to go sledding alongside hardwood forest. Wildwood is about as wild as wilderness gets on Long Island. There’s no particular area set aside for sledding, but that’s actually an advantage, opening up the park’s 769 acres to sledders. Just choose a hill and turn it into your own private downhill run. Many sledders gravitate toward the campgrounds, or roadways, which are closed in winter to campers and vehicular traffic, park officials say.

Date Feb. 9 at 1:30 p.m.; merchandise sales at 10 a.m.; festivities begin at noon

Cost Donation

More info Benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

About 1 mile

An easy route follows a dirt path through woods, a grass trail along the beach, packed gravel in the parking lot and some rocks at the point. Not wheelchair accessible.

Getting there: Take Route 25 East to the end. Turn left at the break in the trees across from the ferry entrance and park in the small dirt lot.

The North Fork’s glorious scenery climaxes here in a spectacular Long Island Sound seascape. "You just walk and enjoy nature … without any disturbances from the outside world," East Hampton artist Ewa Banas says of her hikes here for creative inspiration.

More info: Open 8 a.m. to dusk. Free parking.

Shorter routes:

0.25 miles: Into the woods

The trailhead enters a fairy tale woods full of birdsong, wildlife and native plants. Forge ahead for breathtaking scenery.

0.52 miles: Long Island Sound

Choose from two byways paralleling this pristine stretch of Long Island Sound: a well-maintained grass trail on the bluff, or a white stone beach, where you can picnic under an endless sky while watching cormorants dive for a fish dinner.

0.14 miles: The end

The trail ends as Orient Point narrows to a strip of land a few hundred feet wide. It’s mostly a parking lot with a million-dollar view, where anglers surfcast off the rocks and beach. (Fishing regulations: suffolkcountyny.gov) Local anglers say there are days when seals outnumber human visitors. Walk around the fenced-in area marked "Cable Crossing," for a lands-end view of Plum Gut. Beyond, hikers can see the Orient Point "Coffee Pot" Lighthouse and the mysterious Plum Island.

2 miles

An easy to moderate loop runs mostly on sand with a possibility of marshy sections through the dunes area. Not wheelchair accessible.

Getting there: Take Bay Parkway to the end and follow the curve in the road to the parking field.

A century ago, the West End 2 area was an "open ocean," but nature and humans gradually extended the 17-mile barrier island to its current footprint, according to Mia Ramirez, educator at the Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center in Wantagh.

The end of the 6.5-mile beach is quiet and often deserted, especially during the offseason. "It’s the closest you can get to being on the moon while being only a half-hour from the house," Michael Diaz, 53, of Massapequa, a surfcaster, says before hitting the beach trail.

More info: Open sunrise to sunset. Free parking.

Shorter routes:

0.4 miles: Trail through the dunes

The main trail to this lonely strand begins at the southwest corner of the West End 2 parking field. You’ll be immersed in a dune ecosystem where bayberry bushes and seaside goldenrods flourish, marsh hawks and ospreys fly overhead and a toad was seen hopping by on a recent hike. Turn right at the fork. The wind-swept beach will peek through the dunes as the trail opens up on a 360-degree panorama of wild Long Island.

Walk 0.6 miles: The jetty

Crashing surf serenades you west to the jetty. Avoid walking on the slippery rocks jutting into the Atlantic, but do point your field glasses seaward from the beach for humpback whale and cargo ship sightings.

Walk 0.6 miles: Jones Inlet

Walk north beside the rock wall paralleling Jones Inlet, a major navigation route and surfcasting destination known for striped bass and solitude. On a recent day, surfcasters described the beach as a peaceful and serene spot to try their luck with rod and reel. (Fishing regulations: dec.ny.gov) Across the Inlet, look for Point Lookout and, on a clear day, the Manhattan skyline and One World Trade Center.

Walk 0.4 miles: The end

Turn right at the break in the dunes marked by sand fencing, and follow the trail back to the parking lot.

7.4 miles

Had enough of the treadmill? You can burn calories amid actual scenery, hiking the rolling hills of Trail View State Park in Woodbury. Trail View, a narrow 400-acre belt of green space, sends hikers along wooded hills on the north and past ponds and streams near its south end. With comparatively rugged terrain — for Long Island at least — and some hills rising to several hundred feet above sea level, it can be challenging for inexperienced hikers, Gorman says.

More info Access at 8101 Jericho Tpke., Woodbury, and near Cold Spring Harbor Library.

Date Feb. 8, registration at 9 a.m., plunge at 10 a.m.

Cost Donation

More info Benefits the athletes of the Special Olympics. Raise at least $150 to receive an official plunge sweatshirt.

"It’s like being in an upstate area, without the intrusion of residences. You see nature at its best with a beautiful snowy landscape," said George Gorman, regional director of New York State parks on Long Island.

Season October through April

Hours 1-3 p.m. Mon., Wed., Sat., 1-3 p.m. and 3:30-5:30 p.m. Fri.

Cost Nassau County residents with Leisure Pass $10, $6 ages 4-17; nonresidents: $15, $10 ages 4-17; $5 skate rental.

More info Offers public sessions, hockey program and lessons.

Season All year

Cost $10, $5 skate rental and $5 walker rentals. $20 for figure skating freestyle and hockey programs.

Hours 12:15 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Sat.-Sun. beginning Oct. 12. Additional holiday hours.

More info Offers public sessions, skating lessons, an adult and youth hockey program and freestyle sessions for figure skaters.

Season All year

Cost Residents with Freeport Activity Card $4, nonresident with Activity Card $8, nonresident guest $10, Puck shoot $10; $4 skate rental.

Hours 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thurs., 7:30-9 p.m. Fri., 1:30-3:30 p.m. Sun.; Puck shoot 1:15-4:15 p.m. Fri. ($10). Public sessions Nov.-March; puck shoots Sept.-June.

More info Offers public sessions, puck shoot, youth hockey, skating academy and birthday parties.

Season All year

Cost $12, $10 ages 10 and younger; $6 skate rental.

Hours Open Sat.-Sun. and holidays, school vacation in December, call for hours. Jan.-Feb.: 12:15-1:45 p.m. Sat., 11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Sun.

More info Offers group lessons, hockey clinics, public sessions, figure skating and hockey games.

"Heckscher has 25 miles of trails. It’s pretty much flat," says park manager David Auguste. "We also have a beach environment because we’re on the Great South Bay." 

Season All year

Cost Public sessions $16; $7 skate rental.

Hours Public skating Fri.-Sun., additional dates and hours added based on availability.

More info Offers indoor rinks and one outdoor rink where visitors can join learn-to-skate programs, take lessons or participate in hockey leagues and clinics.

Season All year

Cost Public sessions: $14, $11 ages 5-12; $7 skate rental.

Hours 10:15-11:15 a.m. Mon.-Fri. Adult Only, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Mon., Tues. and Fri., 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 3:50 p.m.-5:50 p.m. Wed.-Thur., 12:20-1:50 p.m. Sat., 1:50-3:30 p.m. Sun.

More info Indoor and outdoor rink with learn-to-skate and learn-to-play programs, clinics, youth and adult hockey leagues, special events. Outdoor ice programs in winter. Deck/roller hockey programs during fall, spring and summer.

Season All year

Cost $13 weekdays, $15 weekends, holidays and school vacation; $11 weekdays, $12 weekends, holidays and school vacation, ages 11 and younger. $16 on Fri. nights. $7 skate rental.

Hours1 2:30-2:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 4-5:45 p.m. Tue.-Wed., 8:15-10:15 p.m. Fri., noon-3 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Check website for additional public sessions on holidays and school vacations.

More info Offers public sessions, skate lessons, hockey, figure skating, camps, birthday parties and private rentals.

.5 mile
It’s about a half mile to the beach over easy, tree-shaded terrain, on dirt paths with added wood chips. In another area of the preserve, a loop trail for the visually impaired is equipped with a guide rope and Braille signage.

The Garvies Point Museum and Preserve opened in the late 1960s on land where the Matinecock tribe sheltered millennia ago, and the Scottish immigrant Garvie family settled in the early 1800s. But a much older story draws scouts, field trips and hikers to its dawn-of-time evoking beach.

More info The preserve is open daily, dawn to dusk. Free parking.

Shorter routes:

0.16 miles: A new beach route

To get to the beach, also known as the Shoreline Trail, take one of the two paths that begin behind the museum. If you choose the left fork, turn right at the bluffs and head north. The path eventually merges with the Old Woods Trail for the remainder of your northward walk.

0.23 miles: Lunch and a landmark

At the end of the Old Woods Trail, turn right to a deck overlooking Pioneer Pond, which is fed by a natural spring. Picnic on the deck to a chorus of bullfrogs, before resuming your walk to the beach.

0.01 miles: Cretaceous Park

Take a sharp left, walk a few steps and you’re walking a beach that’s also a geologic time machine.

0.35 miles: Shoreline Trail

As you walk south on this trail along the Hempstead Harbor beachfront, observe the clay cliffs above to your left. They are one of the few places where the rock formed under Long Island 70 million years ago during the Cretaceous period can be seen. Those hulking boulders strewed in your path? They were carried by glaciers to Long Island at the end of the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago.

The beach gravel under your feet also contains a science lesson: plant fossils with fragments of Earth's oldest flowering trees.

"A few years ago I was just walking the beach, and I looked down and there was this big chunk of red shale imprinted with a magnolia leaf fossil, which dates to 65 million years ago," says Veronica Natale, museum director.

If you find a fossil, bring it to the museum, Natale says. Cretaceous period plant fossils are among the artifacts in the museum’s exhibits on geology and Native American archaeology and culture. (The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; $5/adults, $3 children ages 5 to 12.)

Season All year

Cost $18; $5 skate rental.

Hours 2:30-4 p.m. Mon., 2:30-4:30 p.m. Wed., 1-4 p.m. Fri., 2:15-3:45 p.m. Sat. and Sun. Reserve tickets in advance and register for time sessions on website.

More info Offers public sessions, classes, clinics, birthday parties, private lessons and hockey leagues.

Season All year

Cost $10; $15 Fri. nights; $5 skate rental.

Hours 8:30-10:30 p.m. Fri., 12:30-2:00 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Additional public sessions on holidays and school vacations.

More info Offers public sessions, hockey, lessons and parties, pro shop and snack bar.

Season All year

Cost Residents $7, $6 ages 5-17, $4 ages 2-4; nonresidents $11, $9 ages 5-17, $6 ages 2-4; $5 skate rental.

Hours 4-6 p.m. Mon. and Wed., 10 a.m.-noon Tue. and Thur., 4-5:30 p.m. and 8:30-10:30 p.m. Fri., 2:45-5:45 p.m. Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun.

More info Offers public sessions, ice hockey, figure skating and birthday parties.

The trail starts right off on Jericho Turnpike for the Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail and continues to Cold Spring Harbor State Park. "For getting into the hills, I like the northern part better," says George Gorman, regional director of New York State parks on Long Island. "You’ll feel like you climbed a mountain in the Catskills at the end of it." He recommends beginners try a different park before taking on this more challenging trail.

Season Nov. 23 through mid-March, weather depending.

Cost $35, $29 ages 5-16, $15 ages 4 and younger Fri.-Sun.; $25, $20 ages 5-16, $15 ages 4 and younger Mon.-Thur. $10 skate rental ages 16 and older, $5 ages 4 and younger.

Hours Vary, check website for schedule.

More info Outdoor NHL-size ice rink, public sessions, classes, lessons and hockey leagues.

Season Early Dec. through early March, weather permitting.

Cost Nassau County residents with Leisure Pass $10, $6 ages 4-17; nonresidents $15, $10 ages 4-17; $5 skate rentals; puck shooting: $10 resident, $20 nonresident.

Hours 1:15-3:15 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Mon.-Wed.; 1:15-3:15 p.m., 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Fri.; 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 1:15-3:15 p.m., 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sat.; 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 1:15-3:15 p.m., 4-6 p.m. Sun. Puck sessions: 5-6:30 p.m. and 7-8:30 p.m. Thur., 6:30-8:00 p.m. Sun.

More info Offers public sessions and puck shooting.

Season Through mid-March, weather permitting.

Cost Nassau County residents with Leisure Pass: $10, $6 ages 4-17; nonresidents: $15, $10 ages 4-17; $5 skate rentals; puck shooting: $10 resident, $20 nonresident.

Hours 1:15-3:15 p.m. Mon., Tues. and Thur.; 1:15-3:15 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Wed.; 1:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m., 4 p.m.-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Fri.; 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 1:15-3:15 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Sat.; 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 1:15-3:15 p.m., 4-6 p.m. Sun. Puck shooting sessions: 4-5:30 p.m. Mon. and Thur.

More info Offers public sessions and puck shooting.

Season Through Feb. 23, weather permitting.

Cost Residents: $7, $6 ages 5-17, $4 ages 2-4; nonresidents: $11, $9 ages 5-17, $6 ages 2-4; $5 skate rentals.

Hours 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Fri.; 1-3 p.m., 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sat.; 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Sun. Additional days and hours during the weeks of Dec. 24 (closed Dec. 25) and Feb. 18.

More info Offers public sessions.

"There are some really pretty trails overlooking Long Island Sound in the section known as The Bluffs," says Edward Moran, former president of the Long Island chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. You can start from the picnic area inside Sunken Meadow State parking Field 4, and head east on the Long Island Greenbelt Trail, he says.

Season Through Feb. 25.

Cost $20. Skate rentals $10 are available on site. Private ice time can be reserved in advance.

Hours 90 minutes skating sessions. Please refer to theparkatubsarena.com for exact hours.

More info Northwell Presents The Park at UBS Arena is an outdoor experience for the community featuring a covered outdoor rink for ice skating and hockey. The Park also includes special amenities such as an outdoor beer garden with fire pits and lawn games, an igloo garden with six 12-foot heated and furnished igloos, interactive hockey games, the Isles Lab Swag Shack selling Islanders merchandise, and an array of food trucks and concessions options. The Great American Family Christmas Festival takes place Nov. 22 through Dec. 29. Activities include movie premieres, ice skating, visits with Santa, crafts and more.

Season Through the second weekend in March.

Cost $15, $12 ages 11 and younger weekends and school holidays; $13, $11 ages 11 and younger weekdays; $7 skate rentals.

Hours noon-8 p.m. Mon.-Thur., noon-10 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.

More info Offers public sessions, learn to skate, birthday parties and private rentals.

Season Through late February, weather permitting.

Cost Residents $7, $6 ages 5-17, $4 ages 2-4; nonresidents $11, $9 ages 5-17, $6 ages 2-4; $5 skate rentals.

Hours 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Fri.; 1-3 p.m., 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sat.; 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Sun. Additional days and hours during the weeks of Dec. 24 (closed Dec. 25) and Feb. 18.

More info Offers public sessions.

Season All year

Cost Town of Hempstead Park residents: public sessions $8 weekdays, $10 weekends; nonresidents $10 weekdays, $13 weekends; $6 skate rental.

Hours Winter schedule through March 1: 4-6 p.m. Wed.; 8-10 a.m. Thurs.; 8:30-10:30 a.m., 4-6 p.m. and 8:30-10:30 p.m. Fri.; 12:30-2:30 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

More info Offers public sessions, skating lessons, youth hockey programs and police and fire league.