Atlantic Ocean Beach Walk

The Atlantic Ocean Beach Walk along Robert Moses State Park traverses one of the finest stretches of barrier beach accessible from New York City, following the broad ocean strand east from the park fields toward the quiet western tip of Fire Island. The walk travels along the high-tide line of the Atlantic Ocean, with the open sea to the south and a low band of dunes and maritime shrubland to the north separating the beach from the calm waters of Great South Bay. This barrier beach system is geologically young and dynamically active, continuously reshaped by wave action, storm overwash, and longshore sediment transport. Shorebirds including sanderlings, dunlins, and piping plovers work the surf zone throughout their seasonal migrations, and brown pelicans have become increasingly common offshore in recent decades as their populations have recovered from the DDT era. Bottlenose dolphins are frequently observed just beyond the surf line during summer months. Walking east beyond the developed park fields, the beach becomes progressively quieter and wilder, eventually transitioning into the federally protected Fire Island National Seashore. The rhythmic sound of Atlantic surf, the expansive oceanic horizon, and the salt-scented air create a restorative experience remarkably close to one of the worlds great metropolitan areas.