Watch Hill (New York)

Last updated
Fire Island-NY-USA-Location Map-01.svg
Watch Hill is a part of the Fire Island National Seashore on Fire Island.
Fire-island-map.jpg
Map of the Fire Island National Seashore showing the location of Watch Hill.

Watch Hill is a campground and marina located on Fire Island, a barrier island off the south shore of New York's Long Island. The park is located across the Great South Bay from Patchogue and is contained within the Fire Island National Seashore. [1]

Contents

Watch Hill is located on the western edge of the 1,363-acre (5.52 km2) Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness, the only federally designated wilderness area in the State of New York, containing a variety of barrier island ecosystems in relatively undisturbed condition. [2]

Description

Boardwalk at Watch Hill Watch Hill Boardwalk.jpg
Boardwalk at Watch Hill

The park offers a variety of outdoor experiences, ranging from ocean swimming to back country hiking to bird watching. Watch Hill contains a marina, a small general store, snack bar, tiki bar, Whalehouse Point Restaurant and Bar, visitor center, nature trail, and seasonally lifeguarded beaches. In September 2019, the building containing the restaurant, snack bar, and tiki bar was destroyed by a fire. The general store and welcome center were unaffected. Campground facilities include running water, grills, showers and bathrooms. The campground contains 27 sand sites, including one that is universally accessible and a group campsite. Starting 2019, four glamping platform tents or preset campsites will become available for more comfortable camping.

Access

Watch Hill ferry Watch hill Ferry.JPG
Watch Hill ferry

Watch Hill is not accessible by car and is open seasonally by ferry via The Watch Hill Ferry Terminal at 160 West Avenue in Patchogue, or by private watercraft.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Patchogue, New York</span> Census-designated place in New York, United States

East Patchogue is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 22,469 at the 2010 census. The CDP is a proximate representation of the East Patchogue hamlet used for statistical purposes of the Census Bureau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherry Grove, New York</span> Hamlet in New York, United States

Cherry Grove is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on Fire Island, a barrier island separated from the southern side of Long Island by the Great South Bay. The hamlet has approximately 300 houses on 41 acres (170,000 m2), a summer seasonal population of 2,000 and a year-round population of 15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patchogue, New York</span> Village in New York, United States

Patchogue is a village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 11,798 at the time of the 2010 census. Patchogue is part of the town of Brookhaven, on the south shore of Long Island, adjoining Great South Bay. It is officially known as the Incorporated Village of Patchogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookhaven, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

The Town of Brookhaven is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, the most populous of ten in the county. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located approximately 50 miles from Manhattan. It is the largest of the state of New York's 932 towns by area, and the second most populous after the Town of Hempstead in adjacent Nassau County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great South Bay</span>

The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is about 45 miles (72 km) long and has an average depth of 4 feet 3 inches (1.3 m) and is 20 feet (6.1 m) at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island, a barrier island, as well as the eastern end of Jones Beach Island and Captree Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gateway National Recreation Area</span> National Park Service unit in New York and New Jersey, United States

Gateway National Recreation Area is a 26,607-acre (10,767 ha) U.S. National Recreation Area in New York City and Monmouth County, New Jersey. It provides recreational opportunities that are not commonly found in a dense urban environment, including ocean swimming, bird watching, boating, hiking and camping. Ten million people visit Gateway annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore</span> Protected area

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a United States National Lakeshore located along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau and Benzie counties near Empire, Michigan. The park covers a 35-mile-long (56 km) stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, as well as North and South Manitou islands. This Northern Michigan park was established primarily because of its outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena. The lakeshore also contains many cultural features including the 1871 South Manitou Island Lighthouse, three former stations of the Coast Guard and an extensive rural historic farm district. In 2011, the area won the title of "The Most Beautiful Place in America" from Good Morning America. In 2014, a section of the park was named the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness by the United States Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire Island</span> Island in New York

Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire Island National Seashore</span> National park system unit in New York, United States

Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) is a United States National Seashore that protects a 26-mile (42 km) section of Fire Island, an approximately 30-mile (48 km) long and 0.5-mile (0.80 km) wide barrier island separated from Long Island by the Great South Bay. The island is part of New York State's Suffolk County and the Outer Barrier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland Island National Seashore</span>

Cumberland Island National Seashore preserves most of Cumberland Island in Camden County, Georgia, the largest of Georgia's Golden Isles. The seashore features beaches and dunes, marshes, and freshwater lakes. The national seashore also preserves and interprets many historic sites and structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curecanti National Recreation Area</span>

Curecanti National Recreation Area is a National Park Service unit located on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Established in 1965, Curecanti National Recreation Area is responsible for developing and managing recreational facilities on three reservoirs, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Morrow Point Reservoir and Crystal Reservoir, constructed on the upper Gunnison River in the 1960s by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to better utilize the vital waters of the Colorado River and its major tributaries. A popular destination for boating and fishing, Curecanti offers visitors two marinas, traditional and group campgrounds, hiking trails, boat launches, and boat-in campsites. The state's premiere lake trout and Kokanee salmon fisheries, Curecanti is a popular destination for boating and fishing, and is also a popular area for ice-fishing in the winter months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf Islands National Seashore</span> 96,000 underwater acres in Mississippi and Florida (US) managed by the National Park Service

Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven islands. Some islands along the Alabama coast were originally considered for inclusion, but none are part of the National Seashore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assateague Island National Seashore</span> Barrier island operated by the National Park Service of the United States

Assateague Island National Seashore is a unit of the National Park Service system of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Located on the East Coast along the Atlantic Ocean in Maryland and Virginia, Assateague Island is the largest natural barrier island ecosystem in the Middle Atlantic states region that remains predominantly unaffected by human development. Located within a three-hour drive to the east and south of Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia major metropolitan areas plus north of the several clustered smaller cities around Hampton Roads harbor of Virginia with Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. The National Seashore offers a setting in which to experience a dynamic barrier island and to pursue a multitude of recreational opportunities. The stated mission of the park is to preserve and protect “unique coastal resources and the natural ecosystem conditions and processes upon which they depend, provide high-quality resource-based recreational opportunities compatible with resource protection and educate the public as to the values and significance of the area”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith Point County Park</span>

Smith Point County Park is a beachfront park facing the Atlantic Ocean on the east end of Fire Island, along the central south shore of Long Island, near Shirley, New York, United States. It is the largest park owned by Suffolk County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outer Barrier</span> String of barrier islands dividing Long Island from the Atlantic Ocean

The Outer Barrier, also known as the Long Island and New York City barrier islands, refers to the string of barrier islands that divide the lagoons south of Long Island, New York from the Atlantic Ocean. These islands include Long Beach Barrier Island, Barnum Island, Jones Beach Island, Fire Island and Westhampton Island. The outer barrier extends 75 miles (121 km) along the South Shore of Long Island, from the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City to the east end of Shinnecock Bay in Suffolk County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davis Park, New York</span> Hamlet in New York, United States

Davis Park is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on Fire Island, a barrier island separated from the southern side of Long Island by the Great South Bay off the South Shore village of Patchogue. It lies within the Fire Island National Seashore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patchogue Bay</span> Bay on Long Island, New York

Patchogue Bay is a lagoon on the south-central shores of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandspit Park Beach & Marina</span>

Sandspit Park Beach & Marina is located on the Patchogue River in the Village of Patchogue in Suffolk County, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patchogue River</span> Body of water

The Patchogue River is a mile-long waterway In Patchogue, New York that is lined with a variety of restaurants, marinas, fueling docks, apartment condominiums, and ferry terminals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Core Banks, North Carolina</span>

The Core Banks are barrier islands in North Carolina, part of the Outer Banks and Cape Lookout National Seashore. Named after the Coree tribe, they extend from Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Lookout, and consist of two low-relief narrow islands, North Core Banks and South Core Banks, and, since September 2011, two smaller islands. New Drum Inlet, Old Drum Inlet and Ophelia Inlet now separate the islands. The Core Banks are now uninhabited. However, Portsmouth, at the north end of the North Core Banks, was once a substantial port, and Cape Lookout Village, about one and half miles south of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, contains the historic Lookout Life-Saving Station, a U.S. Coast Guard Station, and several island homes.

References

  1. "Watch Hill - Fire Island National Seashore". NPS.gov. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  2. "Fire Island Wilderness - Fire Island National Seashore". NPS.gov. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved December 7, 2015.

Coordinates: 40°41′25.5″N72°59′20″W / 40.690417°N 72.98889°W / 40.690417; -72.98889