Doggin' Long Island's Walking Dunes

In 1879, ten years before his death, Arthur W. Benson, of Brooklyn Gas 7 Light and Bensonhurst fame, purchased 10,000 acres of government land around Montauk for a little more than $15 an acre. He envisioned his new lands as a playground for the rich.

A generation later Robert Moses, the visionary New York land planner, saw a different future for Montauk. He wanted a necklace of public parks along the Montauk shores and in 1924 announced plans to condemn 1700 Benson estate acres for the flegling New York State Parks system.

It took a three-year court battle that wound its way to the New York Supreme Court but Moses prevailed. The enduring jewel of his struggle is Hither Hills State Park (http://www.nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=48) that stretches from ocean to bay and is the largest state park in Montauk.

Hither Hills is home to the unique walking dunes - 80-foot high piles of sand that are blown more than three feet each year by the strong westerly winds. As the sands shift they completely bury trees and vegetation, eventually moving on and leaving phantom forests of dead trees. What looks like bushes as you hike with your dog are really the tops of tall trees.

A 3/4-mile trail loops through the dunes and giant bowls for you and your dog to explore the cranberry bogs and coastal shrubs up close. From high ridges you can look across the pine barrens for miles before dropping to the beach at Napeague Harbor where your dog can frolic in the gentle waters.

Further explorations can take place along the shore of Napeague Harbor and around Goff Point.
Parking for the Walking Dunes is at the end of Napeague Harbor Road and is limited to a few cars.

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