This was my first time visiting Montauk, the furthest point on the South Fork at the eastern end of Long Island. I’d done my research and knew I wanted to hike the Walking Dunes Trail at Hither Hills State Park. From there we’d continue to drive east on the peninsula to hike the bluffs and see the hoodoos in Shadmoor State Park. I figured we’d save the lighthouse at Montauk Point for last since that would be a more populated area, and I always look for places with fewer people.

We drove through the Hamptons along Route 27. It was just as I’d imagined, with big homes and designer shops. As we got closer to the small fishing village of Montauk, the space on either side of the highway opened up to expansive state park land. I immediately felt a rush of excitement seeing the open, wild space.

We made a quick change of plans and decided to go to Montauk Point first then backtrack to the other parks. Montauk Point was crowded, but we parked the car, got out, and started walking toward the beach and the lighthouse. It was a Saturday afternoon, and it was busy with people. I snapped a few photos of the historic lighthouse then got back in the car to head to Hither Hills.

We turned off Route 27 onto Napeague Harbor Road and parked the car at the end. There’s a sign here directing you to the Walking Dunes Trail. The dunes are called walking dunes because they shift about three and a half feet each year due to the strong winds out of the northwest which push the dunes southwest. The northwest winds are funneled in between Springs (to the west) and Gardiner’s Island (to the north) causing a strong funneling effect that moves the dunes over the forest. I observed pitch pine and oak trees that appeared stunted and short, but the trees have been buried almost completely by the dunes. Eventually, these trees will be covered completely. It was impressive.

After our hike through the dunes, which was just a short loop, the trail brought us out to Iodine Beach at Napeague Harbor. The beach has reddish colored sand unlike I’d ever seen. Immediately we saw lots of shorebirds wading and feeding along the shore. There were only a couple of surfers on the beach, and I knew this was exactly where I wanted to spend my time.

As we walked along the red sand, I noticed something up ahead on the beach that looked like a large shell. As we approached, we realized it was a horseshoe crab. I thought it was dead, but suddenly the legs moved. It had been flipped over by the waves when it washed ashore with the tide. We flipped it over and it began to walk away. I was fascinated. I’d never seen one o these amazing creatures before. Further ahead we found three more, all of which had also been flipped over and stranded on their backs, so we saved them too. I later went on to research how important horseshoe crabs are to the shorebirds and also how humans are harvesting them for use in pharmaceuticals (which was rather disturbing so you can google that if you’re interested.)

We continued to walk along the beach and I photographed piping plovers, black-bellied plovers, willets, and sanderlings. Gulls played on the thermals in the sky and an osprey flew overhead. I photographed the shells and the rocks and the glistening waves of Napeague Harbor. It was getting to be late afternoon, so we turned around and started to head back to the car. Along the way, we noticed that the horseshoe crabs, all but one, had returned to the sea. That one, unfortunately, didn’t make it.

We drove back to the village of Montauk, checked into our hotel, and had lunch; steamed clams and mussels at one of the local restaurants. There was a music festival in town, so it was a little too hectic for me, but it is a tourist town afterall, so I knew what I was getting myself into. Thankfully, our hotel was quiet, with a fire pit outside, and the innkeeper was super sweet. The hotel had a bottle of champagne waiting for us in the room since we are celebrating our 12-year anniversary this month, and the reason we decided to make it an overnight stay in Montauk.

We sat by the fire pit drinking champagne in the late afternoon sun. Later that night we walked along the beach listening to the crashing waves and looking out into the darkness across the vast Atlantic. There were small groups of people warming themselves by bonfires in the chilly ocean air. Both of us slept very well that night, and I dreamed of horseshoe crabs and sea creatures.

The next morning we woke up super early with the sun around 5:30 am. We actually missed sunrise, but it was still early enough to get out and enjoy nature before people started waking up. We headed to Shadmoor State Park and walked a wooded trail that took us straight to the top of the bluffs where we had impressive views of the hoodoos, rock formations carved by powerful ocean waves. The sea glistened in the morning sunlight as we looked out over the bluffs at flock of black scoters bobbing up and down on the waves. They looked perfectly at ease out there, moving in rhythm with the swell of the waves.

Shadmoor State Park is a hotspot for birding. I spotted and photographed my first yellow warbler. There were plenty of eastern towhees, catbirds, and I heard more prairie warblers although, again, I wasn’t able to see one.

After our walk we headed back to town and had breakfast at Bird on the Roof, the restaurant run by Daunt’s Albatross, the motel where we were staying. We sat outside sipping coffee, eating blueberry pancakes and enjoying the morning sunlight and the salty ocean air. It was still very early, so after breakfast we walked across the street to the beach. We made our way toward the hoodoos, only this time we were below them and could view them from a different perspective. This view was even more impressive. We saw bank swallows flying in and out of burrows they had dug directly into the cliffs, and the area was fenced off so the swallows would not be disturbed. We sat for a minute and I took off my hiking boots and let the cold Atlantic wash over my feet. I hadn’t done that since I was a kid. We both walked back barefoot in the sand, connecting with the earth and the waves and the wind. My hair was brushed with sea salt, and it felt like a completely different kind of freedom and expansiveness than what I feel in a mountain wilderness environment. I carried that feeling with me after I got back to the city. It was an amazing trip.

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Montauk Point