Natural Areas of the South Shore of Long Island

Bethpage Bikeway
(Massapequa Park to Bethpage State Park)

An outstanding way to cover the entire 5-mile distance through Massapequa Park is on bicycle. Rather than bicycling fast or without stopping, use your bicycle to get to all six ponds in the park so you can look for bird life. Of course, you must bring binoculars. See the previous description for Massapequa Park for wildlife and plants you can see along your route.

The entire bikeway runs 15.4 miles from Merrick Road to Stillwell Woods Park (only 1.5 miles from Long Island Sound). It is interesting to note that an ambitious biker can bicycle from the ocean almost to the Sound over a distance of 24 miles by combining the Bethpage Bikeway with the Wantagh Bikeway. Its only break is along Merrick Road. To connect the two bikeways, one would have to drive 1.7 miles along Merrick Road between the two bikeways.

How to Get There: The Massapequa Park and Greenbelt Trail descriptions tell how to drive to the park and its trails. Access to the south end of the Bikeway is from Ocean Avenue off Merrick Road. Other accesses are from Clark Blvd. next to Lake Shore Drive, and at the end of Walker Street off Lake Shore Drive. You can also park in Bethpage State Park at the picnic area (reached by the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway off Exit 8). From there, bicycle south on the bikeway. In two miles, you cross Hempstead Turnpike and enter the South Shore Estuary watershed.

Access Guide Introduction :: Map and Guide :: More Estuary Site Information
	Bethpage Bikeway (Massapequa Park to Bethpage State Park) An outstanding way to cover the entire 5-mile distance through Massapequa Park is on bicycle. Rather than bicycling fast or without stopping, use your bicycle to get to all six ponds in the park so you can look for bird life. Of course, you must bring binoculars. See the previous description for Massapequa Park for wildlife and plants you can see along your route. The entire bikeway runs 15.4 miles from Merrick Road to Stillwell Woods Park (only 1.5 miles from Long Island Sound). It is interesting to note that an ambitious biker can bicycle from the ocean almost to the Sound over a distance of 24 miles by combining the Bethpage Bikeway with the Wantagh Bikeway. Its only break is along Merrick Road. To connect the two bikeways, one would have to drive 1.7 miles along Merrick Road between the two bikeways. How to Get There: The Massapequa Park and Greenbelt Trail descriptions tell how to drive to the park and its trails. Access to the south end of the Bikeway is from Ocean Avenue off Merrick Road. Other accesses are from Clark Blvd. next to Lake Shore Drive, and at the end of Walker Street off Lake Shore Drive. You can also park in Bethpage State Park at the picnic area (reached by the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway off Exit 8). From there, bicycle south on the bikeway. In two miles, you cross Hempstead Turnpike and enter the South Shore Estuary watershed.