| This Adventure starts at the
Great River train station of the Montauk branch. From here it is a
simple walk to the Greenbelt trail (G.B. White Blazed) which is the trail
you are going to take for this journey. The Greenbelt trail is a maintained
and marked trail, the northern terminus is in Sunken Meadow park and the
southern terminus is in Heckscher park. (32 miles) We will not use the entire
trail, but all should be explored in the future. Follow the trail north for
16 miles where you will reach Blydenburg Park in Smithtown. Here you will
have to link up with the Blue Blazed (Stump Pond trail) to find the primitive
campsite. (There are no facilities at this site, but some
might be available a short walk away during season). Set up camp and
enjoy the night under the stars. The next morning you will need to continue hiking the
Blue trail clockwise around Stump pond until you reach t the Greenbelt trail again
White Blazed, take the
GB north through Caleb Smith State Park until you reach the Bull in
Smithtown.(rt25 & rt25A) Carefully cross over using crosswalks to reach
Paul T. Given County Park.
Here is where you transfer
over to Kayak or Canoe
to travel the 5 miles of the Nissequogue river to the LI Sound. Boat rentals
available in season. You depart the boat at old Dock Road Park in Kings
Park.
Here you have a few options:
1. The End,
2. continue North on the G.B. to End,
3. take G.B. South back to Bull & continue
East on Rt 25/25A to Smithtown train station,
4.
In season ONLY - take the boat shuttle back to the Bull where it is only a short walk to the
Smithtown train station.
Resources recommend for this trip:
-
Greenbelt trail
map, L.I. Greenbelt Trail Conference
-
Camping Info. Suffolk County
Parks, Blydenburgh Park
-
The book "Hiking L.I. ",
By Lee McAllister, NY-NJ Trail Conference
-
L.I.R.R. Great River &
Smithtown Stations
-
Nissequogue River boat rental & tidal chart
All trip ideas are
only suggestions to get you thinking about how to utilize the many wonders
here on LI. |
