The South Fork of Suffolk County, New York is a peninsula in the southeastern section of the county on the South Shore of Long Island. The South Fork includes most of

the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one o ...

. The shorter, more northerly peninsula is known as the North Fork.

Geography

The South Fork is composed of all of the Town of East Hampton and a substantial part of the Town of Southampton. The body of water to the south is the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The South Fork and North Fork split at

Riverhead, New York Riverhead is a town within Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the north shore of Long Island. Since 1727, Riverhead has been the county seat of Suffolk County, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. As of the 2020 census, the ...

where the

Peconic River The Peconic River is a river within Suffolk County on Long Island, New York.Paumanok Path The Paumanok Path is a hiking trail in New York on Long Island that goes from Rocky Point to Montauk Point State Park. It travels through four towns in Suffolk County: Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southampton and East Hampton. It is marked by whit ...

. The South Fork and North Fork are separated by Great

Peconic Bay The Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is separated from Gardiners Bay by Shelter Island. Peconic Bay is divided by Robins Island into the Gr ...

, Little Peconic Bay, and

Gardiners Bay Gardiners Bay is a small arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 10 mi (16 km) long and 8 mi (13 km) wide in the U.S. state of New York between the two flukelike peninsulas at the eastern end of Long Island. It is bounded o ...

. Between the two forks lie several islands, including

Gardiners Island Gardiner's Island is a small island in the Town of East Hampton, New York, in Eastern Suffolk County. It is located in Gardiner's Bay between the two peninsulas at the east end of Long Island. It is long, wide and has of coastline. The isl ...

and Shelter Island. The eastern end of the South Fork,

Montauk Point State Park Montauk Point State Park is a state park located in the hamlet of Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York. Montauk Point is the easternmost extremity of the South Fork of Long Island, ...

, in the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

of Montauk, New York, is the easternmost point in the State of New York, and of Suffolk County. The eastern end of the North Fork is

Orient Point, New York Orient is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States. The CDP's population was 743 at the 2010 census. ''Orient'' and ''Orient Point'' are used almost interchangeably. However, Orient Point ...

, but is further west in relation to Montauk Point.

Transportation

The South Fork is most commonly reached by roadways from the west, but the area also offers

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

service,

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

service, and ferry service.

Roads

The most prominent road on the south fork is

Montauk Highway Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...

(part of

New York State Route 27 New York State Route 27 (NY 27) is a long state highway that runs east–west from Interstate 278 (I-278) in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York. Its two most prominent c ...

) which traverses the entire region. However, there are numerous other roads that are heavily traveled but unknown to most. For example, Noyac Road provides a parallel route to Montauk Highway in the northern area of the region between

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

and

Sag Harbor Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the 2 ...

. Sag Harbor is also served by the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike (CR 79) from Bridgehampton, Sagg Road from Sagaponack, Wainscott Northwest Road from Wainscott, and the East Hampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike (NY-114) from East Hampton and points east. The area also boasts many back roads around East Hampton, the Springs, and

Amagansett Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, t ...

, such as Three Mile Harbor Road, Springs Fireplace Road, and Old Stone HIghway.

Trains

The Long Island Rail Road

Montauk Branch The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. Howe ...

has stops in Westhampton, Hampton Bays, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Amagansett, and Montauk. Service is infrequent most of the time due to the fact that there is only one track. The easiest time to take the train to the South Fork is on Fridays, when most trains run out of the city, and Sundays, when most trains run into the city, although this sequence also can be applied during morning and evening rush hours.

Buses

The Hampton Jitney and the Hampton Luxury Liner provide bus service primarily between the South Fork and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Local bus service is provided by Suffolk County Transit.

Ferries

Direct access between the South Fork and Shelter Island is via the South Ferry (the North Ferry provides access to Shelter Island from the North Fork). Additionally, passenger ferry service runs occasionally between Montauk and Block Island, RI,

New London, CT New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, and Martha's Vineyard, MA."VikingFleet.com Interstate Fast Ferry Information"
Viking Fleet, Retrieved March 14, 2013.

Notes

References

"Long Island Map"
— ''Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission''. {{Authority control Peninsulas of New York (state) Landforms of Suffolk County, New York Southampton (town), New York East Hampton (town), New York