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]
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]
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.
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.
The Cape Cod National Seashore (CACO) encompasses 43,607 acres on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years prior. It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includes nearly 40 miles (64 km) of seashore along the Atlantic-facing eastern shore of Cape Cod, in the towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham. It is administered by the National Park Service.
East Patchogue is a hamlet and 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 21,580 at the time of the 2020 census.
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 (17 ha), a summer seasonal population of 2,000 and a year-round population of 15.
Brookhaven is a large suburban town in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. With a population of 488,497 as of 2022, it is the second most populous town in the United States and in New York and the third most populous community in the state.
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.
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. More than 8.7 million people visited Gateway National Recreation Area in 2022, making it the fourth-most visited unit of the National Park Service.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a U.S. national lakeshore in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Located within Benzie and Leelanau counties, the park extends along a 35-mile (56 km) stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, as well as North and South Manitou islands, preserving a total of 71,199 acres. The park is known for its outstanding natural features, including dune formations, forests, beaches, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Gulf Islands National Seashore is an American National seashore that offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. In 2023, it was the fifth-most visited unit of the National Park Service.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
Warriors' Path State Park is a 950-acre (3.84 km2) Tennessee State Park in Colonial Heights, Tennessee, an area within the city of Kingsport. It is named for the Great Indian Warpath that was used by the Iroquois in war raids with the Cherokee and other tribes. The park is located around the Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir and Duck Island on the South Fork Holston River. This land was acquired from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1952.
Patchogue Bay is a lagoon on the south-central shores of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York.
Sandspit Park Beach & Marina is located on the Patchogue River in the Village of Patchogue in Suffolk County, New York.
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.