David Sarnoff Pine Barrens Preserve

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Riverhead NY

The Park

Russian immigrant David Sarnoff learned to operate a telegraph key as a boy and went to work for the American Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, meeting the inventor of the telegraph. Before he was to end his career with the Marconi company and its successor, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) sixty years later Marconi would oversee the invention of radio, champion the development of television, coordinate the communications for D-Day during World War II and log three decades as President of RCA. On April 12, 1914 a 20-year Sarnoff went to work as a wireless operator when the technology was still a novelty. That night he picked up faint signals from the icy North Atlantic of the sinking of the Titanic. He stayed at his post for 72 straight hours bringing news of the disaster to the world. After that all ships were required to have wireless. In the 1920s Sarnoff directed the development of this property as the receiving hub for RCA’s revolutionary transatlantic wireless radio communication network.

The Walks

At one time pitch pine and scrub oak barrens covered 25% of all Long Island but today fewer than 100,000 acres remain and these 2,000+ acres are among the largest contiguous swaths of pine barrens remaining. Two canine hiking loops have been carved in the preserve, each reached by a lengthy connector trail, blazed in yellow. The Blue Loop is the shorter of the two circles, about 2.5 miles. Since the acidic soil delays the decay of leaves and organic matter, prescribed burns are necessary to clear the burgeoning tinder box. These burns are evident on the Blue Loop. This route

crosses high-speed traffic on Route 104 so that makes the longer Red Loop more attractive to dog owners. It requires a lengthy 1.25-mile lead-in to reach the Red Loop but your dog won’t complain while trotting the soft sandy trail. You and your dog will need to go single-file on much of this hike that has been routed past kettle depressions and picturesque stands of pines. In some places the huckleberry and blueberry constrain the path so as to brush each leg. This is easy going for your dog, however, with no real climbs, just dips and rolls through the pine barrens.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: There is a mapboard but nothing to take along; the paths are energetically blazed but expect a missing marker tree along the way.

Workout For Your Dog - At least one hour to finish the Blue Loop and two for the Red.

Swimming - These pine barrens filter an underground aquifer of between three and five trillion gallons and occasionally a woodland pond has formed to refresh your dog.

Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed to hike these trails.

Something Extra

The antenna farm created by RCA in these pine barrens featured 75 steel towers built 120 feet high. The company removed all traces of the structures before the land was opened to the public but you

can still see abandoned antenna fields. They are especially plentiful along the Red Loop.

Phone - (631) 444-0273

Website 

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Riverhead; on Route 104, about two miles south of Riverhead traffic circle. Parking is available in a lot on the west side of the highway.

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Letchworth State Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Castile NY

The Park

William Pryor Letchworth entered business at the age of 15 in Auburn in 1848, working as a clerk in the saddlery and hardware trade. He soon shifted to the iron products business and was successful enough to retire at the age of 48. But he did not stop working. He became an advocate for epileptic and poor children from his post on the New York State Board of Charities, agitating tirelessly for their treatment, often with his own money. He first bought land on the Genesee River in 1859 when he started to build his Glen Iris Estate with the help of famous landscape artist William Webster. When development of the Genesee River loomed in 1906, Letchworth scrapped plans for Glen Iris to be converted into an orphanage after his death and gave it to the State of New York instead to preserve the lands forever. A year later, and three years before William Letchworth’s death, his 1,000 acres became one of the cornerstones of the New York state park system.

The Walks

The “Grand Canyon of the East” covers more than 14,000 acres and serves up about 70 miles of trails, many of the multi-use variety. Most folks, however, don’t explore much beyond the three major waterfalls at the park hub so you will have no trouble slipping away into the woods with your dog in relative solitude. If you can, bring your dog to the Gorge Trail early in the morning before the crowds arrive to gape at the hydrospectaculars and admire the stone bridges and stairways created by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression. Good places to sneak away with your dog are behind the museum, highlighted by the Mary Jemison Trail, and in the northern area of the park near the campground off Schenck Road with its gorge overlooks.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: A combination of flagstone and natural dirt paths.

Workout For Your Dog - Full days possible.

Swimming - There are some side streams in the park for refreshing splashing.

Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are welcome to hike and camp but are not allowed in any park building, cabin area or swimming pool area.

Something Extra

In 1743 Mary Jemison was born aboard ship, bound for the New World. Her family settled near modern-day Gettysburg on the American frontier. In 1758, in the early days of the French and Indian War, the Jemison farm was raided by French and Shawnee warriors. The raiders headed west and soon killed everyone in her family except Mary. In Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) she was sold to Seneca Indians and renamed Dehgewanus. She lived among the Senecas, married and was led back to her husband’s homeland on the Genessee River, walking 700 miles with a young son on her back. She arrived but without her husband, who fell ill and died. She would live in the valley another 70 years until the “Old White Woman of the Genesee” died in 1833 on the Buffalo Creek Reservation. Two generations later her grandchildren appealed to William Letchworth to have here remains moved to her one-time land here. He obliged, and Mary Jemison came home. You can see her grave, topped by a statue dedicated in 1910, behind the Glen Iris Inn.

Phone - (585) 493-3600

Website 

Admission Fee - Vehicle entrance fee May to November

Directions - Castile; From I-390 take Exit 7 to the park off Route 36.

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Buttermilk Falls State Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Ithaca NY

The Park

The Tutelo Indians resided from the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia down to the valleys of the Mayo and Dan Rivers in North Carolina. In the 1740s, remnants of the Saponi, Tutelo, and Occaneechi Indians sought the protection of the Iroquois Confederacy after dust-ups with the Algonkians. Collectively known as the Tutelo, they settled among the Cayuga in 1753, building a small cluster of wooden cabins near the falls. Their village of Coreorgonel was one of many Iroquois towns destroyed during the Sullivan Expedition of 1779. Like their neighboring namesake park, the initial funds for Buttermilk Falls State Park came from Robert and Laura Treman in 1924.

The Walks

It takes two separate glens for the Buttermilk Creek to storm 600 feet down the Cayuga Valley. You can circle the lower gorge that climaxes in the wide curtain waterfall at the bottom on two 3/4-mile trails on either side of the gorge. The north side is natural going through a shady hemlock forest while the south side utilizes a dramatic stone staircase. After that rollick adventure the remainder of canine hiking at Buttermilk Falls is relatively tame, but nonetheless desirable. The upper section of the park (on West King Street if you are driving, not hiking) features views of the gorge and an easy trek at Lake Treman, surrounded by a 1.5-mile trail. The 25-acre lake was built in 1930. About 100 yards south of the main entrance, accessed off Sand Bank Road, you can take your dog on a gentle wetland loop on the Larch Meadow Nature Trail. This is the only trail at Buttermilk that will stay open during the winter and when ice lingers even later in the gorge.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: A park map will take you to the assorted trailheads. The trails are blazed once you reach them.

Workout For Your Dog - It is a hearty hike up and down the falls.

Swimming - Below Buttemilk Falls when the swimming pool is closed and Lake Treman are excellent places for canine aquatics.

Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed to hike the trails around Buttermilk Falls.

Something Extra

Near the top of the Gorge Trail you’ll pass by a dark spot shaded by a ragged 40-foot pillar of shale in Buttermilk Creek known as Pinnacle Rock. The rock has stood tall while all about it, literally, has fallen victim to the powerful stream waters.

Phone Number - (607) 273-5761

Website 

Admission Fee - Vehicle entrance fee May to November

Directions - Ithaca; take Route 13 South to park entrance.

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Hither Hills State Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Easthampton NY

The Park

In 1879, ten years before his death, Arthur W. Benson, of Brooklyn Gas & Light and Bensonhurst fame, purchased 10,000 acres of government land around Montauk for a little more than $15 an acre. He envisioned his new holdings as a playground for the rich. A generation later Robert Moses, the visionary New York land planner, saw a different future for Montauk. He wanted a necklace of public parks along the Montauk shores and in 1924 announced plans to condemn 1700 Benson estate acres for the fledgling New York State Parks system. It took a three-year court battle that wound its way to the New York Supreme Court but Moses prevailed. The enduring jewel of his struggle is Hither Hills State Park that stretches from ocean to bay and is the largest state park in Montauk.

The Walks

For most visitors, Hither Hills is a mile of pristine, dune-backed Atlantic Ocean beach and top-rated campground. With such delights, the 1755-acre park’s interior that stretches to Napeague Bay is often overlooked. All the better for canine hikers, who are not welcome on the beach anyway. Miles of informal sandy trails and jeep roads pick through the pitch pine, scrub oak and beach heather. Of the marked trails, the long-distance Paumanok Path that crosses to Montauk is the most prominent. It can be combined with the Serpent’s Back Trail and others to form sporty hiking loops that will delight your dog for hours. Expect plenty of ups and downs as you twist through the pine barrens. Highlights include the bass-stuffed Fresh Pond, panoramic overlooks and the sandy/cobbly shore of Napeague Bay.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Trail maps are available at the parking lot or park office; the named trails are blazed.

Workout For Your Dog - A full day is possible.

Swimming - The swimming is easy for your dog on the sandy beach of Napeague Harbor from the Walking Dunes Trail and on the shores of Napeague Bay.Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are not permitted anywhere south of Route 27 including the beach and campground but can hike east of Napeague Harbor and south of Napeague Bay.

Something Extra

Hither Hills is home to the unique walking dunes - 80-foot high piles of sand that are blown more than three feet each year by the strong westerly winds. As the sands shift they completely bury trees and vegetation, eventually moving on and leaving phantom forests of dead trees. A 3/4-mile trail loops through the dunes and giant bowls for you and your dog to poke around the bogs and coastal shrubs up close. Further explorations can take place along the shore of Napeague Harbor and around Goff Point. Parking for the Walking Dunes is at the end of Napeague Harbor Road and is limited to a few cars.

Phone - (631) 668-2554

Website 

Admission Fee - In season mid-April to mid-November, but only south of Route 27 where dogs are not allowed. 

Directions - Easthampton; parking is available on the north side of Montauk Point State Parkway (Route 27) at the Hither Hills Overlook, one mile east of the split with Old Montauk Highway.

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The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now