NASSAU COUNTY HIKING
Bethpage Bikeway more info
Distance: 7.32 miles one way Hike Time: 3 hours Difficulty: Easy
General Description: The Bethpage Bikeway generally follows the Parkway from the Massapequa Preserve to Bethpage State Park . Only about a third of its length borders the highway itself, the rest is tucked in a forest greenbelt.
Hempstead Town Historic Trail
Distance: 25 miles Hike Time: Two 8-hour days (recommended) Information for camping to break the hike to 2 days is in the guide. Difficulty: Easy.
General Description: The Hempstead Trail was created for the youth of this country, and in particular the youth of Nassau County, to let them experience the world of the Great Outdoors even in a suburban setting, to help them learn about their heritage, to exercise their mind as well as their body and lastly to have them spend some time reflecting on who they are and perhaps why they are here.
The Hempstead Trail awards program provides recognition for participates, after they have hiked the entire trail. Each troop or group will receive a pennant for their unit’s flag and each hiker is eligible to wear the Hempstead Trail Patch and/or Hempstead Trail Historic Medal. (Medal and Patch available at this time for $ 10.00)
Guide Book, pennant and registration forms for the trail may be obtained by sending $ 10.00 to:
Boy Scout Troop 332 c/o David M. Shields 59 Dart Street East Rockaway, NY 11518
This booklet provides complete details concerning trail access, camping and other information.
Hempstead Lake State Park - Nature Trail more info
Distance: 4 mile loop Hike Time: 1 1/2 - 2 hours Difficulty: Easy
General Description: Hempstead Lake is Nassau County’s largest freshwater lake. The 4 mile nature walk goes around Hempstead Lake.
Hoffman Center Nature Preserve - Nature Trails more info
Distance: 5 miles Hike Time: 2 hours + Difficulty: Easy
General Description: The 155-acre preserve has open meadows, secondary oak-brush, tall mixed deciduous forest, restored indigenous grasslands, vernal and man-made ponds, and is a haven to at least 49 species of butterflies, 149 resident and migrating birds, and more than 150 native plant species. Guided nature tours are scheduled for the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month.
Jones Beach Bikeway more info
Distance: 8.8 miles round trip Hike Time: 4 hours Difficulty: Easy
General Description: The Ellen Farrant Memorial Bikeway consists of 4.4 miles of paved surface that parallels the Wantagh Parkway from Cedar Creek Park to Jones Beach.
Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail more info
Distance: 19.2 miles one-way Hike Time: 6-8 hours Difficulty: Moderate
General Description: The only long-distance hiking trail in Nassau County is the 19.2-mile long Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail. Nearly 6 miles of this trail runs through the South Shore Estuary watershed, most of that in Massapequa Preserve. It is part of the much larger Long Island Greenbelt Trail system, which has other sections in Suffolk County.
Tackapausha County Preserve more info
Distance: 5 miles Hike Time: 2 hours Difficulty: Easy
General Description: Tackapausha is the oldest nature preserve in Nassau County, started in 1938. It is named after Chief Tackapausha of the Massapequa Band of Algonkian-speaking Native peoples. The paths take you past two ponds, along wetlands and interweaving channels of Seaford Creek, and the largest stand of rare Atlantic white cedar in the country.
Trail View State Park more info
Distance: 7.4 miles one-way Hike Time: 2 - 3 hours Difficulty: Moderate
General Description: Trail View is a 400-acre, 7.4-mile linear park. The park has a variety of habitats and undeveloped natural resources such as hardwood forests, marshes and succession fields with elevations ranging from 60 to 300 feet above sea level.
Wantagh Nature Trail more info
Distance: 3.8 miles (loop trail) Hike Time: 2 hours Difficulty: Easy
General Description: The Wantagh Nature Trail circumnavigates three ponds, linking Nassau County’s Mill Pond Park with the Town of Hempstead’s Twin Lakes Preserve. Revitalization of the trail was an Eagle Scout project from Troop 189.
Distance: 1 1/2 miles Hike Time: 45 minutes - 1 hour Difficulty: Easy
General Description: The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is a good afternoon or morning escape from Queens, though you never do escape the airplanes circling nearby JFK airport. A trail loops from the Visitors Center through fairly open terrain with lots of low-lying vegetation, including a real surprise: a prickly pear cactus that thrives in the islands of Jamaica Bay.