Rambling through Connetquot River State Park

After the fast pace of Saturday's training hike, a leisurely amble through flat country was exactly what I needed. I wasn't sure what to expect from Connetquot State Park, as my first Long Island hike had been rather dull, but it turned out to be quite charming. From the Great River station, we sort of followed my hiking book's directions to the Long Island Greenbelt, although we stopped first at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum. We walked down to the river and tried to see Paradise Island, but it was closed. After the detour, we wended our way around a small lake and through a tunnel (a tunnel!) over to the park proper. It's a wildlife reserve and a fish hatchery; most of the trails we were on were quite close to the water. Partially because of that (and partially because I was with a birder), that meant we saw quite a few birds. I have only the vaguest idea what our mileage was. As written in the book, it was 3.8. We didn't follow the trails suggested, though, and we stopped at the arboretum. My friend's phone tracked it at 10 miles. That could be right, but I'll split the difference at 7. If you want to go out there, in summer it would be extremely full of ticks, so I'd suggest another season.