The Paumanok Path is a hiking trail in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

that goes from Rocky Point to Montauk Point State Park. It travels through four towns in Suffolk County: Brookhaven, Riverhead,

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and East Hampton. It is marked by white trail blazes.

Description

The trail derives its name from the Native American name for Long Island. The trail was inspired by Stephen Talkhouse, a 19th-century

Montaukett The Montaukett (" Metoac"), more commonly known as Montauk, are an Algonquian-speaking Native American people from the eastern and central sections of Long Island, New York, United States. Name The exact meaning of the name Montauk is unkn ...

Indian famed for his 25-30 mile roundtrip walks from Montauk to

East Hampton, New York East Hampton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York United States. It is located at the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town i ...

and

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an Administrative divisions of New York#Village, incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns of Southampton, New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town) ...

. Landmarks on the trail are said to be resting places for him. Talkhouse is buried off the trail in Theodore Roosevelt County Park near Montauk. The trail is almost completely off-road, but there are a few short sections which are paved. There are gaps that total 20-odd miles that due to private ownership presented a challenge to overall completion until 2016. Montauk-County-Park-Nature-trail2017

Activities

In October 2000, Byron Lane, an

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

runner from Stony Brook, New York, who has Montaukett Indians in his family tree, ran the entire Paumanok Path as a fundraiser and awareness raiser for the trail. The path was altered since then and in 2016 hiker Joe Denny became the first to walk the 125-mile path. In 2021, Justin Kousky recorded a new fastest known time of 25 hours, 42 minutes. The Paumonok path is a hiking trail with prohibitions for ATV's (Quads) and dirt bikes, however, a portion from East Hampton to Sag Harbor has been designated a bike trail, where mountain bikes are allowed. This section runs from Town Line road to the Sag Harbor turnpike (State road 114) where it lies opposite the trailhead for the Northwest Woods Trails.

References

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass "starting from Paumanok"

External links

* {{New York hiking trails East Hampton (town), New York Hiking trails in New York (state) Tourist attractions in Suffolk County, New York Long-distance trails in the United States