Sunken Meadow State Park Explained

Sunken Meadow State Park
Map:	New York#USA
Coords:	40.9114°N -73.258°W
Type:	State park
Location:	Rte. 25A and Sunken Meadow Parkway Kings Park, New York^[1]
Nearest City:	Kings Park, New York
Area:	1288acres^[2]
Operator:	New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Visitation Num:	3,636,435
Visitation Year:	2023
Visitation Ref:	^[3]
Open:	All year
Website:	Sunken Meadow State Park

Sunken Meadow State Park, also known as Governor Alfred E. Smith State Park, is a 1287acres state park^[2] located in the Town of Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York on the north shore of Long Island. The park, accessible via the Sunken Meadow State Parkway, contains the 27-hole Sunken Meadow State Park Golf Course.^[4]

Park description

Sunken Meadow State Park is open year-round from sunrise to sunset. The park's features include 3miles of beaches on the Long Island Sound, a NaNmiles boardwalk, 6miles of hiking trails, and facilities for biking, horseback riding, watersports, and general recreation. Playgrounds, softball fields, and soccer fields are also available at the park.^[5] A wedding and event facility known as "The Pavilion" is available during the summer.

The Sunken Meadow State Park Golf Course features 27 holes that may be played as either nine or 18 holes, in addition to a driving range and putting green. The first two nine-hole courses, Red and Green, were built in 1962, followed by the Blue Course in 1964. All three courses were designed by Alfred Tull. A bar and snack food restaurant near the course is available and open to the public.^[1]

The park's grounds are used as a venue for cross country running, and host competitions for cross country teams from local high schools and runners' clubs. The five-kilometer course, featuring the deliberately named "Cardiac Hill", is regarded as one of the most difficult cross country courses in the US.^{[6] [7]}

The 31miles Long Island Greenbelt Trail connects Sunken Meadow State Park with Heckscher State Park.

See also

• List of New York state parks

External links

• • New York State Parks: Governor Alfred E. Smith/Sunken Meadow State Park
• Long Island's Favorite Running Locations: Sunken Meadow State Park
• New York-New Jersey Trail Conference: Sunken Meadow State Park

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sunken Meadow State Park . NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation . April 10, 2016.
2. Book: 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook . The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government . 2014 . Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O-9 . 671 . April 10, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150916082616/http://www.rockinst.org/nys_statistics/2014/2014_Yearbook_Section_O.pdf . September 16, 2015 .
3. Web site: State Park Annual Attendance Figures by Facility: Beginning 2003 . Data.ny.gov . July 26, 2020.
4. Web site: Sunken Meadow State Park Golf Course (Governor Alfred E. Smith). 2021-09-30. parks.ny.gov.
5. Web site: Information Packet for the Draft Master Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Public Information Meeting, Governor Alfred E. Smith/Sunken Meadow State Park . March 3, 2011 . NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation . October 25, 2015 . December 28, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161228060234/http://www.parks.ny.gov/inside-our-agency/documents/MasterPlans/MeetingPackets/SunkenMeadowInformationPacket.pdf . dead .
6. Web site: Toughest Cross Country Courses . https://web.archive.org/web/20111211021054/http://www.dyestat.com/3us/2xc/toughest/NY-SunkenMeadow.htm . December 11, 2011 . DyeStat . Dye, John . October 25, 2015.
7. Book: Ford . Warwick . Ford . Nola . Fun on Foot in New York . 2009 . Wyltan Books . Aspen, CO . 978-0976524427 . 272–273.