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Finding
the entrance to this lovely park is somewhat tricky. As you
enter, there is a small sign that reads, “Town of
Southampton Red
Creek Park.” However, since it is facing the opposite
direction, what you see instead is a sign reading, “Animal
Shelter.” I’ll give you detailed
directions to find the park entrance at the end of this
article. Once you are on the road in the park, go past the
picnic areas; after the stop sign to the right of the Animal
Shelter you will see the parking field.
There
are pay phones, restrooms, and water available near the
parking area. A wide range of facilities is available in
this park: playground; dog walk routes; picnic area; ball
fields; places for roller blading and skateboarding; and
tennis, basketball and volleyball courts. Parking is free,
but there are fees and regulations for many of the
activities, so I suggest you call 631-728-8585 before you
make your visit.
Park by
the brown and yellow Southampton Town Trail sign next to a
basketball court to the right, and a baseball diamond to the
left. 200 feet north beyond the baseball field fence is
where the trail begins. There are square yellow STPS “Owl
Blazes” to mark the access trail to the Blue Owl Loop. At
the entrance of the trail is a box with maps; you may take
one. These maps are based on an earlier blazing system
developed by Scout volunteers. The blazes are almost all faded,
but most of the trails are still there. If you feel
adventurous, you can try to follow them. |
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Southampton Trails Preservation Society has a map of Hubbard
and
Sears
Bellows
County
Parks,
and Red Creek Town Park that shows this loop trail. If you
are interested
in purchasing the map (or helping with trail work) call STPS
at 631-537-5202.
There is a nice selection of loop trails in
Southampton, thanks to the almost superhuman efforts of a
few dedicated
trail maintainers. I help these guys, but not nearly as
often as I’d like to. This is why I felt particularly angry
when I realized
that some pea-brained yahoo had made their job even harder
by pulling many of the yellow owl blazes off the trees. One
of us will now have to go in and nail up replacement owl
blazes and that will take time away from doing more work on
the Paumanok Path.
Where
the trail splits, the left branch is an exercise path with
places to do pull ups, sit- ups, and stretches. You need
not worry about getting lost though; the two branches of the
trail come back together and end up at Old Squires Road, an
unpaved
woods road occasionally used by cars. When you turn left
onto the woods road, note another yellow and brown
Southampton Town Trail sign; this is the landmark you will
look for on your way back. Walk along this road until you
reach Hildreth, another woods road. Turn right, and then a
quick left takes you into the woods. Soon the blue loop
co-aligns with the Paumanok Path marked with white painted
rectangles. Cross back over Hildreth and pass two benches.
Follow the Paumanok Path until you reach another bench and a
post with the number 3 on it, and then turn right. As of
this writing, there are few blazes along this portion of the
loop. A young doe led the way to a post with the number 2 on
it where I realized
she was telling me to make a right turn. Pass a couple of
vernal ponds on your left and at the fourth bench turn
right, back onto Old Squires Road. This is where you look
for the yellow and brown Southampton Town Trail sign. Turn
left to head back to the parking lot. I estimate the entire
walk is a smidge less than four miles.
Directions: Take Sunrise Highway to exit 65N (route 24)
towards Riverhead. Travel north on C.R. 24 a couple hundred
yards. You will see several signs before you bear right onto
the turn lane for
Old
Riverhead Road West.
There is not a Southampton Town Park sign here; the sign to
look for is “Town of
Southampton Jackson Ave. Offices,”
and “Town Police.” Turn right onto
Old
Riverhead Road,
pass the entrance to Southampton Town Police, and make the
next left into the park.
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