In the last article, my readers were left 1.7 miles into the Manorville Hills wild lands, 100 yards south of the L.I.E.  I described the road noise and ankle twisting ravines caused by people riding dirt bikes illegally on the Paumanok Path (PP).  I didn’t mention the spider web of trails cut by these off-road-vehicles and the white dots that some unsanctioned volunteer applied liberally to many trees creating visual pollution while marking the hiker’s way through this network of trails.  This damage southwest of Exit 71 is continuing to worsen, and is extending eastward. Enough said about damage; let’s look at this area’s awesome beauty. In the few places where the PP is bypassed by the off-road vehicles, sedges and grasses or a soft carpet of leaves and pine needles cover the trail’s tread.

After paralleling Route 495, the trail takes us south onto a wide, straight, woods road.  A quick left and then right turn take you on a loop, which climbs up onto a ridge, and down into a deep kettlehole.  After this loop, a right turn takes you onto another wide woods road.  Then a right turn leads you past “Little Knob” a kettle to your left.  As you walk this trail in the winter, look for large erratics and perched kettle ponds through the naked oak trees and tall pine.

A right turn takes you on a straight, wide south-running boundary road.  After traveling this boundary road, the trail turns left, onto a narrower path that travels around the ridge of a precipitously deep kettlehole to the left.  Of note are the multiple fox dens dug into the ravines caused by dirt bikes. If you refer to Larry Paul’s Pine Barrens Map (LIGTC ((631) 360-0753) you will see where several side trails lead you to some expansive views.  Climbing 240’ up onto “Doubletop”, the Path now travels though a mature oak/pine wood. The trail ascends these two steep hills one right after the other, the view from one ridge offers rolling hills running off into the distance, the other, the ocean, far to the south.  The trail then drops down, runs along Toppings Path, and crosses the wide dirt road.

A short distance after crossing Toppings Path, take an almost immediate left. This is the midpoint of the hike.  The 5.5 miles we traveled since entering the woods by Halsey Manor Road, were on County parkland.  The land we are now on is managed by the DEC. Note the signs “State Land, DEC, Access by Permit Only”.  DEC Region 1, asks that you contact them for a free 3-year permit; (631-444-0753).  They are not discouraging use; rather encouraging communication.

The trail now leads you from the ridge of a 140’ “Deep Hollow” to the 300’ summit of “High Hill”, then to the panoramic view from “Burnt Hill.”  A right onto a wide woods road and a left off of it, and you find a perched kettle pond well above sea level; a blanket of fern surrounds this area in “Hunter’s Garden”.  In the spring, the sound of many peeping frogs suggests the presence of other nearby ponds.  Walking from knob to kettle, pass the cyclone fence of the Water Authority tank tower.  Soon, an ancient yet still effective Eagle Scout step-project leads you in and out of a kettlehole.  Then, pass through a post and rail kissing gate erected many years ago.

Turn right onto a section of the PP that shares its corridor with a blue-blazed loop trail.  Travel through beautiful wetlands and then with a left turn ascend to the summit of Bald Hill with its view of bay and sound to the north.  After following the trail down the LIGTC step project, the PP heads straight ahead, across a woods access road, while the blue loop trail turns right.  The PP runs parallel to CR 51, and then crosses it.  Almost immediately, turn right onto the yellow trail that takes you to SCC parking field 1.

Directions: Suffolk County Community College, Riverhead, Parking Field #1 (closed Sundays).  From Sunrise Hwy. exit 61, travel north on C.R. 51 (Moriches Riverhead Rd.).  Turn right onto Speonk-Riverhead Rd, and then right into the campus.  Make the first left, and then the first right into Parking Field #1.  Park in green visitor’s spaces to the left of the kiosk.  The access trail is behind the kiosk. Follow the yellow-blazed trail to the Paumanok Path.  The triple yellow blazes mark the end of the access trail.  Turn right, and you will travel in an easterly direction, through the Sarnoff State Preserve; or turn left at the trail junction and follow the Paumanok Path across C.R. 51, to Peconic Hills County Park.