Long Island, NY June 29 & 30, 2026.
Took a break from training yesterday to go check out Montauk’s Big Reed Pond National Natural Landmark and the Hamptons’ two National Wildlife Refuges that are open to the public. This morning I put the big pack back on and hiked the six miles of trails in central Long Island’s Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge.
Big Reed Pond is located at the very end of Montauk and can be reached by a few overgrown but relatively short trails. I bathed myself in DEET and walked quickly. The pond is “shallow freshwater surrounded by brackish marshes” (NPS).
Next I drove through congested East Hampton and peered into Amagansett NWR (photos 3-7) from an exclusive and pricey beach. Technically this NWR is open to the public…but not really. You can look into parts of it from the road and the sand. Thankfully a kind traffic cop let me skip paying the insane $50 parking fee after I told him I just wanted to take a quick look at the NWR and wasn’t there to swim.
Noyack’s Elizabeth A Morton NWR (photos 8-10) came next. It has a couple of wide and well maintained hiking trails with one leading to Little Peconic Bay.
This morning I donned my pack and walked Wertheim NWR’s six miles of trails (photos 11-15). Three of those miles came with various types of overfriendly flying insects, so I did that bit in record time.
Soon time for me to get on the NCT.