Fire Island

The Fire Island is located in Long Island, Suffolk County, NY. It has a no-motor vehicle policy.

Basic Information

Date of trip: 04/12/2020

Difficulty level: easy

Location: South shore of Long Island, NY, part of Suffolk County. 

Parking: Parking lots on the western (Robert Moses State Park) or eastern (Smith Point Country Park) end of the park. Fees are charged during the summer season.

Although Fire Island has some permanent residents, a school, and a fire station, it is mostly a seasonal residence and tourist attraction.  It is known for its beautiful beaches, hiking trails, and Lighthouse.

Background

Fire Island consists of seventeen communities, two of which are the most famous LGBTQ communities (Cherry Grove and the Pines).

You can read more about them here.

Fire Island can be accessed by car simply by entering “Fire Island” in your navigation system, which took us to Robert Moses State Park.

Otherwise, ferry service is available during the summer season.

You must be ready to walk to get to the island from there. 

Our Impressions

Fire Island– Wow!!! Where to begin.  It is the cutest, most unusual town, where houses are built on stilts.  It has a Venice-like fairy-tale feeling to it, outside the modern posh civilization of NYC and its surroundings.  Enter the land of vintage bicycles, where regular motor vehicles are not allowed and where residents get their groceries delivered by boat.

This was one of those adventures that took a totally unexpected turn for the better.  It started with us having a friendly debate about whether the island was only accessible by boat or if there was a way to get there by car.  Anna had read that the only way to get there was by ferry and Sheldon was convinced that he had driven there before. We were wondering if we had the same place in mind

Like any good road trip, we entered Fire Island into Google Maps and away we went.  We made it into Long Island fairly quickly as the roads were virtually traffic-free due to the COVID pandemic. Travelling by car was a breeze. 

We went over the causeway, and around the round-a-bout, with the big tower in the middle. We made it! We drove past the point that Sheldon parked at the first time and continued as per GPS instructions. Soon, we came upon the road closure. We could not go any further by car but noticed several groups of people walking along a foot trail past the point of the no car zone.  We drove back to where the beach parking was and decided to hike in.

Walking from the beach parking lot, we could see a a gorgeous stone structure, which turned out to be the iconic Fire Island Lighthouse.  The Lighthouse was the first sight that immigrants aboard transatlantic ships saw upon arrival to America.  After restoration, the lighthouse is currently an active navigation tool.

From there, we continued to the raised platform wooden road, which took us to the most memorable and unique part of Long Island.

We explored this island by foot this first time and promised that we would came back with bicycles the second time (stay tuned for second post on Fire Island).  Hiking this island was wonderful but allowed us to explore only a limited part of the island as it is 32 miles long!