Take A Hike

The Trail Linking Southampton and East Hampton

by Ken Kindler

This five-mile hike takes you from The Long Pond Greenbelt in Southampton to the Northwest Woods in East Hampton. Take this hike with a buddy and leave one car at the end of the hike (1.5 miles north of Stephen Hands Path there's a new parking area and kiosk on the east side of Route 114) so you don't have to walk the five miles back. To get back to the starting point of the hike, drive north on Route 114 past the Sag Harbor Golf Course at Barcelona Neck, Linda Grondland Preserve. After 2.4 miles, turn left onto Clinton Street, by Sag Harbor Elementary School, to Jermain Ave. A quick right, then left keeps you on Jermain Avenue. Continue past several streets to turn right onto Madison. A quick left puts you back onto Jermain Ave. Continue about another half mile on Jermain Ave to the traffic light, at the intersection with Bridgehampton Sag Harbor Turnpike (Main Street). Turn left, and pass the Mashashimuet Park entrance. Look to the left side of the road; pass the fenced-in tennis courts. Park in the unpaved parking area along side the road; hedges separate it from a playground.

Walk south (across the opening for a private driveway) to a kiosk displaying a map of the Long Pond Greenbelt. Follow the Sag Harbor railroad spur, an unpaved road, past a "No Motorized Vehicles" sign and a Southampton Town Trail sign. Pass a baseball diamond and the restrooms (closed for the season) to your left. You will then be walking on a raised railroad bed. A few yards after crossing over the unmarked Round Pond Trail, look for white rectangular blazes where the Paumanok Path (PP) cuts diagonally across the RR spur, onto Sprig Tree Path. This trail runs parallel to the old railroad bed between Long Pond to the left and Little Long Pond to its right. Pass a bench by Long Pond and walk along its western shore. Approach Little Long Pond to your right. At a "Y" intersection bear right, and cross over the R.R. spur two times in close succession, then turn left onto the Long Island Power Authority Right-Of-Way (LIPA ROW). After a short distance, the trail bears left into the woods, taking you parallel to the ROW, on a boat ramp access road. Where this trustee road opens onto Widow Gavitts Road (after returning to the LIPA ROW), turn left.

At the end of Widow Gavitts Road, turn right onto the fast-moving Sagg Road. After a short distance, look at the left side of the road for a post with a white blaze marking the opening to the trail. The Paumanok Path enters the woods though a narrow corridor. After walking about one mile on a pleasant section of trail, a left turn skirts the ROW and takes you back into the woods. Soon a right turn takes you back towards the ROW. Instead of following the trail across the ROW, turn left staying on it for about a quarter of a mile. Look for a (not very sturdy) turn blaze, where a trail cuts across the ROW; the PP turns left into the woods here. A small arc of trail takes you from the ROW to cross over unpaved Town Line Road. A short distance after returning to the woods, the blue-blazed switchback trail diverges to the right. From where the trail splits, bear left, following blue-painted rectangular blazes along with the white rectangular blazes of the PP. The turn blazes in East Hampton are inverted L's. The blazing for the rest of this hike is very easy to follow, thanks to the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society (EHTPS).

At a complex crossroad, bear right onto the freshly blazed, yellow Miller's Ground Loop. Now you will see both yellow and white rectangular blazes marking the trail. EHTPS is installing check dams and waterbars to address the unfortunate damage to the trail from illegal ATV use. Clumps of laurel and moss growing several feet up the oak trunks punctuate the austere winter woods. A right turn takes you off the loop; now we are following only the white rectangular blazes of the Paumanok Path. Cross over Wainscott Northwest Road. There are a lot of pitch pines and oak trees here, and the trail passes a large glacial erratic. After about one mile, the lovely quiet is intruded upon by road noise.

As you approach Route 114, you can see where your buddy's car is waiting in the parking area on the other side of the road. You have arrived at the southern terminus of the 6.5-mile long Northwest Path.

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