What are the best places to run on Long Island?

sunken meadow state park BABY!

Bike path from Cedar Creek Park (Wantagh) to Jones Beach

Connequet State Park (Oakdale)

Jones Beach Boardwalk (anytime but summer)

high school xc coach wrote:

sunken meadow state park BABY!

Thanks bud, appreciate it. Any particular place in the park? From googling it looks like there is a 3.7 mile trail -- is that the best place? I'm aware of the boardwalk as well.

Curious21 wrote:

Bike path from Cedar Creek Park (Wantagh) to Jones Beach

Connequet State Park (Oakdale)

Jones Beach Boardwalk (anytime but summer)

Thanks bud!

Where on Long Island do you live? Nassau, Suffolk, north shore south shore?

wow21 wrote:

high school xc coach wrote:

sunken meadow state park BABY!

Thanks bud, appreciate it. Any particular place in the park? From googling it looks like there is a 3.7 mile trail -- is that the best place? I'm aware of the boardwalk as well.

i am not very familiar with it. have only been once for cross country state meet, we follow the sings and we park where buses are forced to park. It is a pretty well revered cross country course in new york, and even know nationwide to the most die hard of runners.

if you were to go to google images for sunken meadow cross country course, there are lot of maps/info

coach wrote:

Where on Long Island do you live? Nassau, Suffolk, north shore south shore?

I'm actually in Marine Park, Brooklyn, and have been doing all of my running on Marine Park's .85 mile oval. But on weekends it's nice to get in the car and get out somewhere, particularly for a long run to have more change of scenery than that afforded by a .85 mile oval.

I'd love to hear about any options within say a 90 minute car ride from Brooklyn. I'm a bit new to actually understanding the area, so with regrets I'm not quite sure how much of the Island that opens up to me. But bottom line is I'm willing to travel because the journey is part of the point to get out a bit.

high school xc coach wrote:

wow21 wrote:

Thanks bud, appreciate it. Any particular place in the park? From googling it looks like there is a 3.7 mile trail -- is that the best place? I'm aware of the boardwalk as well.

i am not very familiar with it. have only been once for cross country state meet, we follow the sings and we park where buses are forced to park. It is a pretty well revered cross country course in new york, and even know nationwide to the most die hard of runners.

if you were to go to google images for sunken meadow cross country course, there are lot of maps/info

Thank you! Very helpful, and interesting re the history I didn't know about. I see there are a few maps online -- thank you.

Forest Park in queens is close to you and has endless trails. Also try to drive up to the Bronx for van cortland park. Rockaway beach has a nice boardwalk.

Curious 21 wrote:

Forest Park in queens is close to you and has endless trails. Also try to drive up to the Bronx for van cortland park. Rockaway beach has a nice boardwalk.

Thank you. Part of me likes getting out of the city to suburbia on the weekends, but those are all good suggestions (and forest park was one I wasn't aware of). Thank you and I'll check them out.

Van Cortlandt is similarly legendary to sunken, though im not sure if it's as runner friendly. It is a 5k course where half is out in open fields, and the other half is in trails. It is something that is cool to experience at least once. I had a kid win at the manhattan invitational there, among many other accolades, and he rates it as his best running experience ever.

Someone else already mentioned the bike path from Cedar Creek Park to Jones Beach, I believe that connects with a new section of bike path at Jones Beach that runs east along Ocean Pkwy for a few miles.

The northern end of the bike path that you ran on in the Massapequa Preserve is by the picnic area of Bethpage State Park, and you can now continue north for a while on a newer section of bike path.

There is also a trail that takes you north from Bethpage SP to Cold Spring Harbor. Go on the GLIRC website and check the course map for their 25K/50K trail race that is usually held in early May. I think it's called the Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail, not to be confused with the Greenbelt Trail which is a different trail entirely in Suffolk County.

The roads around Oyster Bay are nice. Hilly and woodsy in mostly pretty high rent areas. Park at the train station in Oyster Bay and go out from there. The roads generally have no sidewalks and the shoulders are quite narrow, so make sure you go during low traffic times.

Caumsett State Park has a nice loop bike path that's about 2.5 miles; you can do multiple loops or veer off onto trails to add mileage.

There's a nice bike path in Calverton that's a 9.3 mile loop. Flat and a really nice run. Look for Veteran's Memorial Park on Route 25 in Calverton (there are a bunch of Veteran's Memorial Parks on LI, so make sure you go to Calverton). It's a long drive from Brooklyn, but it's worth it at least once to check out. I discovered this year that the path is closed for the month of January because they allow deer hunting on the property.

It's not LI, but Rockefeller State Park in Westchester is one of the best places to run in the Northeast. Miles of carriage roads. You might be able to get there in 90 minutes from where you are if you go early on a Sunday morning.

Finally, a run I've wanted to do for a long time but haven't got around to doing is the Palisades, on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge. You can google this and get lots of information, but it's supposed to be very scenic, right on the Hudson River.

OP, Johnny99 and others gave you good places on Long Island.

Another suggestion might be the boardwalks in the Rockaways or Long Beach and Atlantic Beach.

The South Shore beaches are all nice.

Not yet mentioned, on the North Shore is the Sands Point Preserve. Great trails.

Also on the South Shore, off the Meadowbrook Parkway, is the Levy Preserve. It has a 1.5 mile mostly flat loop and a hillier ~2.7 mile loop. It is all crushed sea shells, really great. They have a pen with dwarf goats that the Rangers walk and where they eat the grass & brush as park maintenance. You can also rent a kayak there after a nice summer run.

Johnny99, thanks so much for these and the detail you put into them -- VERY much appreciated, I appreciate you taking the time. They will be my bible to LI (and Westchester) running this spring/summer.

coach wrote:

OP, Johnny99 and others gave you good places on Long Island.

Another suggestion might be the boardwalks in the Rockaways or Long Beach and Atlantic Beach.

The South Shore beaches are all nice.

Agreed, thank you coach!

Lirunnr wrote:

Not yet mentioned, on the North Shore is the Sands Point Preserve. Great trails.

Also on the South Shore, off the Meadowbrook Parkway, is the Levy Preserve. It has a 1.5 mile mostly flat loop and a hillier ~2.7 mile loop. It is all crushed sea shells, really great. They have a pen with dwarf goats that the Rangers walk and where they eat the grass & brush as park maintenance. You can also rent a kayak there after a nice summer run.

Thank you Lirunnr, I appreciate it very much.

Back the way ya came

A few more ideas ...

- Connetquot River State Park Preserve. Has several trails. Mostly flat. You can do 10 miles with repeating and trails.

- Blydenburg County Park. Nice, but hilly 6 mile loop around a lake.

- Ocean Parkway Coastal Greenway. You can now run from Jones Beach to Captree State Park a brand new multi-use path. It's around 13 miles one way. It connects to the 5.5 mile path between Jones Beach and Cedar Creek park. Keep in mind there is virtually zero shade.

- Belmont Lake State Park to Argyle Park. A scenic, shady and generally flat wide dirt trail. About 9 miles.