If you are interested in a well marked fairly easy 6 mile hike with a couple of pretty coastal plains ponds as a goal, I suggest the following trek:

6/10 of a mile east of William Floyd Parkway on Middle Country Road is the Pine Trail Preserve parking lot.  It is a dirt lot with plenty of ruts.   It is located on the south side of the road.  This is where the Paumanok Path crosses over Middle Country Road, 8.6 trail miles east of its trailhead.  The Paumanok Path is a hiking only trail until you reach Southampton.  Originally, this portion of the trail was called the Pine Barrens Trail.  This trail is marked with white rectangular blazes.  Travel east from the parking lot.  For the first mile or so, the trail is a bit wide and sandy.   After the LIPA right of way, where you make a quick left and then a right, you enter a really wild and beautiful section of the Pine Barrens.

It won’t be long before you see a trail sign marking where the Brookhaven Trail joins the Paumanok Path.  The Brookhaven trail has yellow blazes, and if you follow it, you will end up at the Shoreham Wading River High School parking lot by the athletic field and track.  If you were to head north on this trail, it would take you through more than 5 miles of pristine Oak and Pine woods.  If you continue to follow the white blazes of the Paumanok path for a little more than a mile, you will reach the two ponds.