JANUARY 2022

Montauk

Where:  eastern Long Island, New York 

Directions: Route 27 to the end

Good to Know:

* In Montauk Point State Park dogs can only go west of the concession stand which works out well since that is where the trails are. You didn’t really want to use the playground did you?

* In Hither Hills State Park dogs are not allowed in the developed part of the park south of Route 27.

* In Shadmoor State Park there is a limit of two dogs in the day-use are. 

Why so good:   

TREASURE.

In Montauk Point State Park the Money Pond is where the pirate Captain Kidd suppos- edly stashed two treasure chests but no loot has ever been found. Your dog may feel as if he’s discovered gold on this tight, twisty route however. The sandy surface is a delight on the paw and the many dips and rolls are certain to pique any dog’s interest. The green-blazed Money Pond Trail joins the yellow-blazed Seal Haulout Trail for a longer journey out to Oyster Pond and the red-blazed stem that closes the loop to the parking lot. Both lead to the shore with occasional side trips to the beach.

THE LIGHTHOUSE.

At the eastern tip of Long Island the land rises slightly. The Montaukett tribe who reigned over this area called the hill “Womponamon,” an Algonquian word meaning “to the east.” Great tribal councils were convened from the point. During the American Revolution the British Royal Navy controlled Montauk Point, lighting enormous fires on the bluff to guide its warships stationed in near- by Gardiner’s Bay. When the British departed after the war the American govern- ment quickly realized the importance of a lighthouse on Montauk Point. In 1792 Congress appropriated $255.12 to buy land upon which a light was to be built to guide boats past the perilous rocks. The first whale oil was lit in 1797 in New York’s first lighthouse and America’s fourth. There are two trailheads here. ￿The red-blazed trail dives towards the shoreline down a service road; the lighthouse is visited by a cobbled beach but the further you hike the sandier the shore becomes.

THE ROUGH RIDERS.

Deep Hollow Ranch was founded in 1658 and claims to be the birthplace of the American cowboy. There was no need to build fences; the Atlantic Ocean on the south and Block Island Sound to the north provided natural boundaries. For over 250 years cattle, sheep and horses grazed here - as many as 6,000 in peak years. The ranch is still operating today, moving past 350 years, offering trail rides. As late as the 1700s only three houses stood on the eastern tip of Long Island, spaced three miles apart. From west to east they were First House in Napeague that was to burn, Second House in Montauk and Third House that now houses park headquarters. In 1879 Arthur Bensen bought all the land from Napeague to Montauk Point and lived in Third House. He hoped to create a re- sort but when his plans failed he sold out to the federal government who built Camp Wikoff during the Spanish-American War and also used Third House as its headquarters. After the war in Cuba the servicemen were riddled with tropical fevers. Over 20,000 soldiers recuperated here; 257 died. Among those who spent time in Camp Wikoff was Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and his regiment of Rough Riders; the county park is named for the pugnacious future President. The county maintains an extensive trail system here but canine hikers are best served at the Big Reed Pond, a National Natural Landmark. Here, a triple-stacked loop of colored trails pile up almost three miles of first-rate hiking with your dog. This is one of the few interpretive trails on Long Island. The routes curve pleasingly with a few short hills thrown into the mix. Your dog will be sheltered the entire way, save for the open setting of a former Montaukett village site. The trail system trips through a succession of plant communties from tidal marshes to wet meadows to upland hickory forests to a recovering sand mine. The hiking is easy for your dog in the county park so you may want to push further east past Big Reed Pond to adjacent natural areas for longer adventures.

THE ABANDONED ARMY BASE.

The federal government first established a base at the strategic tip of Long Island in 1929, naming the fort for Major General Andrew Hero, Jr., who was the Army’s Chief of Coast Artillery at the time. During World War II in 1942, with German U-boats menacing the East Coast, the installation was bulked up with seaplane hangars, barracks and docks and renamed Camp Hero. All the buildings were built to look like an innocuous New England fishing village. Concrete bunkers had windows painted on them and base buildings sprouted ornamen- tal roofs with fake dormers. The gymnasium was made to look like a church with a false steeple. At its peak, the camp housed 600 enlisted men and 37 officers. In 1947 Camp Hero was deactivated but revived in the 1950s as a site for Antiaircraft Artillery training. The military left for good in 1978 and after an effort to turn Montauk Point into a resort destination was thwarted the land was bounced from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the State of New York, finally becoming a state park in 2002. Your dog will find elevation changes as the trails visit the top of fragile bluffs and work down to cobble beaches. Although much of the surfaces are broken macadam or sandy jeep roads you can also find traditional woods walking on paths like the Battery 113 Trail as it penetrates into the heart of the park. There is plenty of unique wandering to be found for your your dog in old Camp Hero. Part of your dog’s hiking day can follow a slice of the Old Montauk Highway that was the principle artery though the South Fork until the Montauk State Parkway was constructed. You can explore the buildings still standing in the military area. Bunkers and odd structures are seemingly around every turn. Oh, and stick to the roads and trails in Camp Hero State Park - it is not impossible to stumble upon unexploded ordnance.

THE BLUFFS.

Speaking of bluffs overlooking the sea the Atlantic Coast will never match calendar views with the Pacific Coast but Long Island at Montauk does its part. In addition to Camp Hero the hiking at Shadmoor State Park serves up a half-mile of ocean-front bluffs that overlook the Atlantic surf. There are two ways to accomplish this. The most direct route is a gentle uphill climb on abandoned Shad Lane. If you don’t make a quick detour to examine the World War II bunker this journey with your dog over the wide, wood-chip path will take less than 20 minutes. The round- about way is on the red-blazed Roosevelt’s Run Trail that loops around the perimeter of the 99-acre park for a bit more than one mile. The once open plains have given way to a dense cover of maritime heath producing a tunnel effect for much of the journey. Once on the bluffs the hike opens up behind a low rail fence with views as far into the Atlantic Ocean as your dog can see. Continue downhill on the somewhat eroded footpath to the east and the trail leaves the state park and meanders into Rheinstein Park, operated by the town. Here your dog can trot down to the Ditch Plains Beach below the bluffs for play in the ocean. Retrace your steps back to Shadmoor or try one of the unmarked trails through the beach heath maze.

THE DUNES.

In 1879, ten years before his death, Arthur W. Benson, of Brooklyn Gas & Light and Bensonhurst fame, purchased 10,000 acres of government land around Montauk for a little more than $15 an acre. He pictured his new holdings as a playground for the rich. A generation later Robert Moses, the visionary New York land planner, saw a different future for Montauk. He wanted a necklace of pub- lic parks along the Montauk shores and in 1924 announced plans to condemn 1,700 Benson estate acres for the fledgling New York State Parks system. It took a three-year court battle that wound its way to the New York Supreme Court but Moses prevailed. The enduring jewel of his struggle is Hither Hills State Park that stretches from ocean to bay and is the largest state park in Montauk. Hither Hills is home to the unique walking dunes - 80-foot high piles of sand that are blown more than three feet each year by the strong westerly winds. As the sands shift they completely bury trees and vegetation, eventually mov- ing on and leaving phantom forests of dead trees. A 3/4-mile trail loops through the dunes and giant bowls for you and your dog to poke around the bogs and coastal shrubs up close. Further explorations can take place along theshore of Napeague Harbor and around Goff Point. The swimming is easy for your dog on the sandy beach of Napeague Harbor from the Walking Dunes Trail and on the shores of Napeague Bay. Parking is at the end of Napeague Harbor Road and is limited to a few cars.