New map sheds light on Sea Cliff's hidden trails

After years of walking the pathways that snaked through Sea Cliff and led down to the shore, Leslie Guerci had a clear sense of where the village’s hidden trails were even if most of the paths had never been mapped.

About a year and a half ago, Guerci decided to make her own map so other residents could enjoy the trails.

“The old timers certainly know that they’re there, but a lot of others don’t,” said Guerci, 64, president of the Landmarks Association.

The walkways mostly date to the 1870s when tourists would arrive at Sea Cliff by steamship and had to climb the steep pathways to reach the hotels in the center of the village, Guerci said. Though they have been there for more than a century, with some receiving recent renovations and others being parceled off to private owners, they had never been mapped, Guerci said.   

She started by making small corrections to a Google map and then added the nine routes. The map, which will be sent out to Sea Cliff residents in the coming weeks, also includes the village’s parks and public spaces and their history.

Guerci said she relied heavily on historical documents and her own experience walking the trails to build the map. She lives a short distance from the Bathway Steps, constructed by the village in 1914 and rebuilt in the mid-1990s as a “walking park.” The stairwell leads down to the beach and is flanked by foliage, memorial benches and lights.

Guerci said she has enjoyed the trails since she moved to Sea Cliff in the mid-1990s, partly for their views of Hempstead Harbor and for the tranquility. But she doesn’t want the paths to remain a secret among just a few longtime residents and is hoping the map will encourage others to explore.

The Landmarks Association, which funded the map, will host a walking tour next month along a route that Guerci traversed last month. On a misty morning, she walked through the lush garden on either side of the Bathway Steps and out onto the boardwalk. She then scaled the Tilley Steps, named for a family which owned a boathouse and steamboat dock, and then up the Pinnacle Steps, which is nestled between quiet residential streets.

From there she hiked up 18 Trails, a wooded path draped by tall trees, following Summit Avenue to the Central Steps, which connects Seventh and Eighth avenues.

Carol Vogt, a former village trustee, has lived in Sea Cliff for 43 years but didn’t know about all the trails until she learned about the project.

“I didn’t realize there were so many beautiful walks,” said Vogt, 76, who has since changed her morning stroll to take advantage of more of the pathways. “I think it’ll be a real asset for the community.”