Sunken Meadow State Park stretches across 1,288 acres along Long Island’s North Shore, where freshwater creeks wind through salt marshes before meeting the Long Island Sound. Established in 1926, the park has been drawing New Yorkers to its three-quarter-mile crescent beach and dramatic bluffs for nearly a century.

The park’s defining feature is its boardwalk, which runs along the shoreline and connects to a network of trails that climb through hardwood forests and open meadows. Three nine-hole golf courses thread through the landscape, making it one of the few state parks on Long Island where you can tee off with views of the Sound. Hikers can pick up the Greenbelt Trail, which begins here and stretches 32 miles south across Long Island — a surprisingly rugged corridor through one of the most developed regions in the country.

Beyond the beach and trails, the park offers playing fields, picnic areas, and cross-country skiing when winter conditions cooperate. Birdwatchers will find the salt marsh and tidal flats productive, especially during spring and fall migration when shorebirds and raptors move through in good numbers.

Summer weekends fill up fast — arrive early to secure parking, particularly on beach-access lots. Spring and fall offer quieter visits with cooler temperatures ideal for hiking and golf. Winter brings its own appeal: bundled-up walks along the empty shoreline with views across the Sound to Connecticut.

Sunken Meadow delivers an uncommon mix of coastline, forest, and open space less than an hour from Manhattan.

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