Trails on Long Island include more than 200miles of paved and unpaved trails for mountain bikers and road cyclists. The New York Times has reported that "for bikers the lure of Long Island is unsurpassed."[1]
One Long Island-based bicycle club, Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists, also known as CLIMB, built a legal mountain bike trail network in New York City in Queens’ Cunningham Park.[2] In 2007 the New York State Department of Transportation completed Long Island's first long-distance signed bike route from Cold Spring Harbor to the Orient Point ferry terminal.[3]
| Trails on Long Island in alphabetical order[4] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Notes | ||||
| Bethpage Bikeway | Thirteen miles of paved, car-free mult-use trail. Northern point begins at Woodbury Road & Sunnyside Boulevard in Woodbury, continues through Trail View State Park, Bethpage State Park, and Massapequa Preserve along the length of the Bethpage State Parkway. Southern terminus is at Merrick Road. | ||||
| Bethpage Mountain Bike Trail | Four miles from Bethpage State Park gatehouse, white triangles mark the off-road, marked loop trail. | ||||
| Cathedral Pines County Park | Six mile single track mountain bike trail (9miles including the advanced black diamond designated sections). Maintained by CLIMB (Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists). A Suffolk County Green Key card is required and there is a parking fee on weekends during the summer. | ||||
| Calverton Mountain Bike Trail | Beginner to intermediate single track. 8-½ mile loop. 1-½ miles of optional advanced hill climbs. Helmets and eye protection are required. FREE NYS DEC Permit Required | ||||
| Central Suffolk Bikeway | 80miles of marked street route begins at Bethpage State Park and runs along Quaker Meeting House Road, Bethpage Road and Main Street to the Farmingdale (LIRR station). It then follows the railroad line into Riverhead. LIRR bike boarding passes are available for a $5 one-time fee. | ||||
| Eastport Trail | Eight and one half mile off-road trail in Eastport. A free permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is required.[5] | ||||
| Many miles of unmarked trails both north and south of 25a | |||||
| Heckscher State Park | Sixteen miles of trails | ||||
| Hempstead Lake State Park | Some unmarked trails around the lake that are shared with horses so be sure to yield to them. Stop and ask if ok to pass. | ||||
| Jones Beach State Park | Eight and one half miles. This trail is regarded by some as the best on Long Island.[6] | ||||
| Kings Park Hike and Bike Trail | Follows an old railroad spur from Old Dock Road just east of Church Street to St. Johnland Road. | ||||
| Long Island Motor Parkway | Former motor road | ||||
| Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Mountain Bike Trail | Eight miles of unpaved, off-road National Recreation Trail marked for mountain bikes | ||||
| Orient Beach State Park | The main 2.2miles bike path can be found mostly along Orient Park Road (NYS Ref. Route 900C), the 0.3miles Roy Latham Trail Loop east of the beach parking lots, and 2.4miles of unmarked trails west of the beach parking lots.[7] | ||||
| Rocky Point Mountain Bike Trail | 13miles marked trail through the Natural Resources Management Area in the Pine Barrens.[8] Helmets and eye protection are required. FREE NYS DEC Permit Required | ||||
| Sears Bellows County Park | |||||
| Stillwell Woods Mountain Bike Trail | Regarded by some as the best off-road trail on Long Island.[9] | ||||
| Montauk County Park | |||||
| Trail View State Park | |||||
| Edgewood Oak Brush Plains Preserve | Miles of trails in Preserve managed by the NYS DEC. Helmets and eye protection are required. http://www.climbonline.org/pdf/decpermit.pdf | ||||