Waterfront hiking trails on Long Island

Lace up your walking shoes. On a Long Island hike this spring and summer, there’s water, water everywhere, and not just in your canteen.

Hiking trails at local parks and preserves offer refreshing trailside and trails-end views of scenic lakes and rivers, idyllic ponds, crashing Atlantic surf and even a few bubbly waterfalls. Guard against ticks by wearing protective clothing and checking your skin after your hike.

LAKESIDE

Twin Lakes Preserve, Wantagh

• Entrance on Park Avenue west of the Wantagh State Parkway
• Open year-round, dawn to dusk
• Free admission
• 516-431-9200, hempsteadny.gov 

You might have seen Twin Lakes while driving by the preserve on the Wantagh State Parkway. But you also can do some Tom Sawyer-like exploring of the 58-acre, state-owned and Town of Hempstead-managed land. The forest trail passes three lakes, a human-made waterfall, freshwater wetlands and grasslands. You can fish for brown and rainbow trout, which are stocked in the spring and fall. A fishing regulation limits daily catch to five fish, with no more than two longer than 12 inches. (New York State freshwater fishing license required; dec.ny.gov/permits)

Hempstead Lake State Park

• 1000 Lake Dr., West Hempstead
• Open year-round
• Parking: $8 per car daily May 27-Sept. 4; weekends and holidays April 1-May 21 and Sept. 9-Oct. 9. Carousel: $2 per ride
• 516-766-1029, parks.ny.gov/parks/hempsteadlake

The popular park offers an easy starter hike for families with kids and dogs — you’ll need to leash the pups. The trail wends around Hempstead Lake — the largest lake in Nassau County — and the smaller McDonald and South ponds. Kids can round out their day by fishing (license required) or riding the historic hand-carved wooden carousel. 

Belmont Lake State Park

• Exit 38, Southern State Parkway, North Babylon
• Parking: $8 a car daily May 27-Sept. 4; weekends and holidays April 1-May 21 and Sept. 9-Oct. 9.
• 631-667-5055, parks.ny.gov

The park’s 7.6 miles of multiuse trails feature an unexpected sight: two bubbly waterfalls. The best-known cascade is located at the south end of the scenic Belmont Lake where ducks swim and the leaves are green and the flowers are blooming. The water tumbles over rocks and under a footbridge before feeding into Carlls River on its way to the bay. Deeper in the woods on the park trail, Little Falls rushes over a stony riverbed under a wooden footbridge. Instagram, anyone? 

LONG ISLAND SOUND 

Sunken Meadow State Park

• North end of Sunken Meadow State Parkway, Kings Park
• Leashed dogs on back trails only.
• $10 a car daily May 27-Sept. 10; $8 weekends and holidays April 1-May 21 and Sept. 16-Nov. 5.
• 631-269-4333, parks.ny.gov

This hike is a shore thing for you and your canine companion. To take the 2½.-mile Greenbelt trail, start from Parking Field 3, head south, cross over Sunken Meadow Creek using the walking bridges. Then head east on the path to the undeveloped eastern end of the 1,287-acre park; you can traverse a hilly, densely wooded and occasionally steep and rocky trail skirting the bluffs towering over Long Island Sound. Two sunny meadows allow rest and rehydration before descending through the bluffs to the Sound shoreline. A trail map is available online and at park information.

Sagamore Hill

• 20 Sagamore Hill Rd., Oyster Bay
• Trail entrance behind the Old Orchard Museum
• Free admission to the grounds; no fees for parking. Open from sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset

Teddy Roosevelt was an avid hiker who often marched down to his estate’s swimming hole. Today’s hikers can follow his footsteps on the dirt trail through the tulip tree forest, over the bridge spanning Eel Creek, to the beach on sailboat-dotted Cold Spring Harbor. Swimming is not permitted, but leashed dogs can hike along with you. You’ll also get bonus views of the 3,209-acre Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

OCEANVIEW

Shadmoor State Park

• 900 Montauk Hwy., Montauk
• Free admission; no fees for parking
• 631-668-3781, parks.ny.gov

The Roosevelt’s Run trail, which loops through the 99-acre Shadmoor State Park, opens up at one point to a dazzling seascape: blue sky, craggy oceanfront bluffs and 2,400 feet of sparkling ocean beach reachable by two stairways. To the east, you can see Montauk Village. Another trail leads to the Ditch Plains surfer’s beach. Also of note trailside, abandoned World War II-era bunkers that once protected the coast with artillery guns.

RIVERSIDE

Bayard Cutting Arboretum

• 440 Montauk Hwy., Great River
• Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. April-Oct., 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov.-March; closed Mondays
• $8 parking Tues.-Sun. April-Nov. Special events may have additional entrance fees.
• 631-581-1002, bayardcuttingarboretum.com

A side trip to see the dwarf conifer collection is another reason to take the river walk along a wide stretch of the Connetquot, one of Long Island’s longest rivers. Keep your eyes peeled for birds — blue herons, egrets, an American bald eagle — and a native plant collection (cattails, elderberry, wild blueberries) on Breezy Island at the tail end of the river walk. Loop back to the historic home for pie at Hidden Oak Cafe. Pets, bicycle riding, picnics, sports, bathing and games are not permitted.