Long Island Greenbelt Trail

Location: East Islip to Kings Park, NY

Length: 32 miles

Date of hike: Aug. 30-31, 2014

Day 1

The Long Island Greenbelt Trail is one adventure that's been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember.  It's a 32-mile hiking trail that runs north to south (or south to north) across Long Island, and I have wanted to conquer it since I was a little boy biking in the woods.  Having grown up in a neighborhood that bordered the woodlands of Connetquot River State Park Preserve, I'd often slink through an opening in the chain-link fence at the end of my road to access the preserve and the trail.  The Greenbelt's white blazes became as familiar to me as the Knicks and Mets posters on my bedroom wall.  I knew one day I'd have to hike it in its entirety.  And that day had come.

The first thing hikers should know is that the Greenbelt Trail, which was completed in 1982, mostly follows the courses of the Connetquot and Nissequogue rivers from the Great South Bay to the Long Island Sound.  The trail also goes through Caleb Smith, Connetquot River, Heckscher and Sunken Meadow state parks.  "Bluffs and beaches, ponds or pines, history and diversity – this National Recreation Trail has it all," said the Long Island Greenbelt Trail Conference's website.  The trail's length meant I wouldn't be able to finish it in a single day, or walk back to my car.  I'd be ending many miles away from where I started each day and the entire hike would likely span two days.  I'd also have to ask family or friends to drop me off at my starting point and arrange for a taxi to pick me up at my ending point.  In addition, there was the Greenbelt Trail map I had to buy at Blydenburgh County Park in Hauppauge.  The map was extremely detailed and featured every twist, turn and crossing along the way.  I'd felt pretty confident that I wouldn’t get lost.  But, of course, I did.  But only for a little bit.

For starters, my good friend Jackie who lives in West Islip offered to drive me to my starting point at Heckscher State Park in East Islip, after I parked my car at her house that morning.  Unfortunately, I forgot my trail map and had to hurry all the way back home after I'd arrived at her house.  Not a good start, I thought.  But fortunately, my luck changed when Heckscher's front-booth worker let us in without paying the vehicle fee since I was only being dropped off.  It was the early hour of 8 a.m. when I finally reached Field 7, which is where the trail starts, according to the map.  Excitedly, I exited Jackie's car and beelined to the beach along the Great South Bay.  It was very desolate.  There wasn't a soul in sight.  The crashing waves were my only company.  Moments later, I found the first official sign for the Greenbelt Trail and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest.  My journey had finally begun after all this time.

Within minutes, I lost the trail.  It was hard to follow the initial blazes because there weren't many trees along the beach to paint them on, I suppose.  Well, I missed one painted on the pavement and ultimately found myself in the park's east end by Timber Point Golf Course in Great River.  After backtracking, I reconnected with the trail as it exited Heckscher and ran parallel to the Southern State Parkway.  To drown out the road noise, I threw on one of the loudest bands in my collection: Tool.  Specifically, I picked the band's 10,000 Days album.  The sick riffs had me headbanging with every step until the hectic intersection of Montauk Highway and Union Boulevard.  Getting across there was like a real life game of "Frogger."

My favorite road crossing was Sunrise Highway, which had an underpass that went directly below the busy road near the entrance of Connetquot River State Park Preserve in Oakdale.  The dark underpass was filled with webs and graffiti – including an eerie message that said "Danger Quicksand," likely referring to the muddy muck at the entrance of the underpass.  Prior to my hike, I'd been wondering how the trail would be getting over Sunrise Highway.  And I now had my answer.  I was going under it, not over it.  I must admit, it was pretty sweet being under one of the busiest roads on Long Island.  A trail highlight, for sure.

From there, I hiked the length of Connetquot River State Park Preserve, which is the largest state park on Long Island.  The trail emerged 3.5 miles later at Veterans Memorial Highway in Bohemia, which was the day's widest road crossing, and eventually led to the boardwalk at Lakeland County Park in Islandia.  Lastly, it cut under the Long Island Expressway and ducked back into the woods for a bit before emerging again at Vanderbilt Motor Parkway.

Although it was only mid-afternoon, I stopped there since I live just two blocks from that spot on Motor Parkway.  At home I checked for ticks and inspected some mosquito bites on my ankles.  My bug spray did little to protect me, it seemed.  I later realized it was poison ivy.

Day 2

The hike's second half began for me at the entry point along the northern side of Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Islandia.  Instantly, I felt a very deep inner peace.  Sometimes there's just a magical mood that fills you when a hike's various ingredients all come together exactly the way you like it.  First of all, the weather was incredibly comfortable with a beautiful blue sky and heavenly mid-70s temperatures.  I also wisely wore pants, learning from those mosquito bites and poison ivy that befell me on the first half of the hike, so I felt better about my attire.  Sure, I'd be extra sweaty wearing long pants, but it was worth the discomfort in my opinion.  Lastly, the first song to pop onto my iPod was OSI's "Indian Curse," an eerie acoustic tune with cryptic lyrics.  Those elements, and a few other factors, combined to create a kick-ass atmosphere for me.  I had another nine hours of hiking to go, and I was ready for every step.

The first thing I saw was the Wind Watch Golf & Country Club, which had a group of golfers just on the other side of a chain-link fence.  There were lost balls scattered around the path, so beware of stray shots.  Interestingly, the land narrowed to about 10 feet wide at one point, with the golf course to my left and backyards to my right.  After crossing over Townline Road, I reached one of my favorite spots on this half of the trail: the "Lake of Dreams."  That's what the body of water was called, according to a phrase carved on the short dock at Hunts Pond Preserve in Smithtown.  Passing hikers would write their assorted hopes and dreams on the planks of wood for all to read.  Some of the messages shared painful tales of broken hearts.  Others wished for medical miracles.  In a way, I felt like I was peeking inside private diaries.

From there, I made my way through a few parks – Millers Pond County Park, Brooksite Park and Blydenburgh County Park, the last of which I'd hiked earlier in the year.  The trail mostly took me into only small portions of each park.  It was kind of like bar hopping, only this was park hopping.  Before long, I was inside the Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown, which I've passed countless times while driving along Jericho Turnpike.  The trail stayed in that park longer than the earlier ones, allowing me to develop a deeper connection with it.  One of my next hikes would be there so I could to explore it more in depth, I told myself. 

Unfortunately, the trail's next stretch left a bit to be desired for me, as it spent about an hour or two going through the streets of Smithtown.  The neighborhoods were very nice, but I was craving nature.  One of this section's top attractions though was the town's Whisper the Bull statue at the intersection of NY Routes 25 and 25A.  The bronze bull weighs about five tons and was installed in 1941, according to the town's website.  After the statue came another quick stint in the woods before the trail emerged by the Smithtown Landing Country Club. 

From there, the trail touched the shore of Nissequogue River State Park and also entered a pretty neighborhood known as San Remo.  While the day's previous streets were all regular residential roads, these were waterfront ones with killer views.  However, they were only an appetizer for the extremely scenic Kings Park Bluff.  Keep an eye out for stellar sandbars.

Just when it seemed like it might be pitch black within minutes, I got to the Greenbelt's final destination: Sunken Meadow State Park.  As a celebratory measure, I dipped my achy feet into the Long Island Sound.  After all these years, I'd finally hiked it.  Take that, bucket list! 

Map: Long Island Greenbelt Trail #1 (Google Maps image)
Map: Long Island Greenbelt Trail #2 (Google Maps image)
Parking: 40°41'57.6"N 73°09'46.2"W
Video: Long Island Greenbelt Trail #1 (360-degree view)
Video: Long Island Greenbelt Trail #2 (360-degree view) 

Click here for more photos