By:
Submission
Hello me and a couple of my family member rent a couple site for 4th of July weekend and we would love to keep the tradition going
From Long Island Expwy (I-495, exit 68): Go S on William Floyd Pkwy to the end on Fire Island.
This place is the gem of Long Island. Where else can you have the bay and the ocean within moments of each other. There is a large and beautiful beach at the ocean. Across the parking lot there is a bay where lots of people are driving their boats and fishing. There is a wildlife/nature museum up in the observation tower that is currently closed. You can climb up to the observation tower and see beautiful scenery for miles. There are paths both paved and unpaved that lead you on a beautiful scenic walk.
This park has a very big parking lot. As soon as you enter the parking lot, you have a bunch of deer welcoming you in the anticipation of fruits. These white-tailed deer in this park are the most friendly that I have seen in the Long Island. They eat directly from people's hand and follow you like pet animals. They are not afraid, and they circle around your car for food. I have seen them eating carrots, baby tomatoes, and apples from the visitors. There are signs in the park indicating not to feed deer, and people are totally opposite. Bathrooms are not open during the offseason. I also saw off-roading outer beach access, but I didn't take a chance to drive to the beach. One tow truck waits by the entrance of the Burma road in case someone gets stuck on the beach. On the Burma road if you decide to drive to the beach with the permit then sign indicates tire pressure(10 to 20 PSI) recommended for the off-roading and when you come back, you can inflate your tire pressure back to recommended pressure. I would say this park needs a little bit of TLC to draw more satisfying visitors, and that can help the local community during the off-season and peak season. I wish beach access is available for AWD drive vehicles as well since not everyone has a 4x4 vehicle.
Note: Please don't leave food for deers in styrofoam cup. Today, one deer ended up with a styrofoam cup stuck on the face. Many people tried to help the deer but couldn't lured deer closer to take out cup from face. Deer was afraid and panicked and stopped trusting any human around her. I hope deer somehow managed to free from cup.
This park is the home of TWA Flight 800 Memorial to honor those who were aboard the plane - 230 people from 14 countries - all of them were killed. The families of TWA Flight 800 Association raised the funds for the memorial.
Beautiful beach with well-sized waves for having fun with the whole family. You can only swim in a restricted area but it was large enough when we were there (Mon-Tue-Wed, beg. of August). Fine sand, fresh and clean water, some food offers (lobster roll is recommended!). We came after 5:30 p.m. when parking is for free (18$ during daytime) to enjoy the evening sunlight.
I was at Smith Point Beach on 3/18/2023 to fly my drone in the parking lot. The attached video and pics are from that day. In the summer time I love this beach, they’ve spent some money making improvements, adding a beach bar/restaurant, and you can also visit the TWA Flight 800 memorial which is there too. Highly recommend.
