Hike to Fire Island

Hike to Fire Island! Hike to Fire Island! I want to shout from the rooftops that this is my favorite fun summer activity on Long Island! 

Specifics for your Fire Island Hike:

Where: Start at Robert Moses State Park, hike to Fire Island. Kismet is the first and closest community you will reach. (See photo at end of posts for other distances)

Difficulty Level: You can be in moderately good shape to complete this hike. It is mostly flat without noticeable inclines. You can stick to the trail which is a boardwalk plus a sand road, or if you would like to make it more difficult you can walk on the beach the whole way.

Time: You could do this quickly – in about two hours. (Roughly 4 miles round trip as we walked all the residential streets in Kismet).  We took a much longer time because we ate at Surf’s Out– highly recommended!

Tips: Stay on the trail! There is poison ivy directly off the trail!

Cost: $8 Parking at Robert Moses/ Field Five

Why go on a hike to Fire Island: 

About two months ago, I shared a long post about a rare “date day” that hubby and I went on last month. We have been realizing more and more how important it is to make time to spend together. With our three under three, this is an almost impossible task, but we try. Obviously, I love my husband. But do you know what else? I really LIKE him. I think he’s handsome, fun, and interesting. When we get a chance to *really* talk we make funny jokes or chat about the big questions in life. *Disregard if you’ve been stuck in a car with us and don’t think we’re funny or interesting.* Now, don’t think we’re perfect- we also want to kill each other AT LEAST twice a week, but this is all to say that if you have little ones- make the effort for a date day- it is certainly worth it. **Date night does not work for us, we’re tired and annoyed with each other by 8:30. DATE DAY is where it’s at!

Here’s how we did it:

“Hike to Fire Island” has been at the top of our list for quite a while. Fire Island is a long string of unique beach communities that are only accessible by ferry- no cars allowed. When we found out that you could hike there we wanted to try it out. It’s roughly four miles round trip.

On a perfect September day we drove to Robert Moses beach and parked in field five- that’s the one where you can see the lighthouse. We loaded up our backpacks with snacks and started the day. The hike begins with a boardwalk.

We made our way to the Lighthouse Museum and history center. Shortly after this, the boardwalk becomes a sandy road and you head left. Along the way we saw a family of FIVE deer peeking out from the bushes. Party of five, family of five, it was all so perfect.

After about two miles we reached Kismet. It is so cute and I was instantly in love. Quaint beach houses line the completely walkable streets. In fact, most people we saw were barefoot. We went to the beach first.  After a dip in the ocean we walked around Kismet checking out the homes. From unique to fancy there are some great ones to see! My favorite thing was the bicycles parked in front of everyone’s homes– and seeing residents bike in with groceries.

After that, we headed to the right side which is the “town”. There’s a few restaurants and coffee houses, plus the marina where everyone parks their boats. We went to “Surf’s Out” for lunch – such a great date spot and we sat outside taking in more sun.

It was a perfectly sunny day and we had a great time. Between the beach and town we probably spent about two hours in Kismet. Then, it was time to head back.

The sunshine and the shadows were just perfect as we headed back and we started taking some amazing pictures of the lighthouse.

And then… we got overconfident.

Hubby said, ” Are you going to put some of these on your blog? I bet I can get some awesome shots!” He went off to LAY in the grass for the perfect shot. I do not mean he kneeled with one little part of his leg in the grass, I mean he completely put his entire body in the weeds.

Even though there were lots of signs about bad plants lurking off the trail, we didn’t listen.

And so we got some awesome pictures!

Then… about two weeks later poor Carlos came home with the craziest “bug bites”. We were so freaked out- I looked up all kinds of exterminators imagining the worst…

A trip to the doctor confirmed it was POISON IVY, compliments of Fire Island. Luckily, it’s highly treatable and medicine was able to clear it up in a few days, but they were some very uncomfortable days. Poor Hubby!

 

He’s doing much better now, but I don’t wish poison ivy on anyone- it was terrible.

To sum up this story: Do date your husband, DO NOT GO OFF THE HIKING TRAIL!

 

Happy September Everyone!

I’d love to hear from you- how do you make time for date day and night??

Read more about date day here!

Know before you go:

Here are links to Robert Moses and Further Information on the Island

If you bike this you would need the fat tire beach cruiser as a large portion of the path is sand only.

You have to be off the trail before sundown as you will pass through Coast Guard owned property.

For reference- this sign is about halfway through and shows distances to each community: