Hike the Walt Whitman Trail for a Fun, Free Weekend or Weekday Adventure
This is a moderately easy hike that has just enough up and down to keep it interesting, but not enough to leave anyone panting. The hike is approximately 4 miles.
I you don’t mind a walk uphill through a lovely neighborhood, you can start your hike at the Walt Whitman Homestead 246 Old Walt Whitman Road, West Hills, NY 11746-4148, (631) 427-5240. Go into the Interpretive Center and learn a bit about Walt Whitman. The cozy museum will give you a timeline of his life and just enough information to make you feel like you are walking along in Walt’s footsteps.
It’s fun to have a poem with you for the hike. You can pick up a book of Whitman poetry at the library, print some from the internet, or stop at the Walt Whitman Homestead gift shop near the start of the hike. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.00 for seniors and students, $1.00 for children 7-12. http://www.waltwhitman.org/Index.asp
The hike starts out on a beautiful path that is lined with Lycopodium obscurum (clubmoss). You’ll share small parts of the trail with horses, and there are also areas where the bridal path crosses the hiking trail.
As you meander, thorough the historic woodland, you’ll be aware that Walt Whitman walked this very area, and much of what you see may have provided a good deal of his inspiration. You’re goal is to reach Jayne’s Hill. In 1850, on the subject of Jayne’s Hill, Whitman wrote “I write this back again at West Hills on a high elevation (the highest spot on Long Island?) Of Jayne’s Hill. . . . A view of thirty of forty, or even fifty or more miles, especially to the east and south and southwest: the Atlantic Ocean to the latter points in the distance – a glimpse or so of Long Island Sound to the north.”
You’ll pass through some well-established rhododendrons that provide a very “Lord of The Rings” feel to this wooded trail. Even though you are very near to Route 110 and the Walt Whitman Mall, for most of the hike you will feel like you are in the wilderness, when you don’t see anything but woods. The foliage is varied, including more than 16 varieties of trees, including white pines, beech, red oak, chestnut oak, black oak, pignut hickory and laurels. The path is sandy in some parts, and you’ll be happier wearing hikers than sneakers, particularly if you fail to notice when a horse has been on the path before you.
Perhaps you will be lucky as you pass by one of the ponds and be treated to symphony of frogs. On a day this spring we head a very strange noise that sounded like the hum of heavy machinery. As we got closer, we realized that it was the croaking of toads.
You are on your way to Jayne’s hill, at 400 ft., the highest point on Long island. Once your reach the top, you’ll see a very large boulder, which some very foolish vandals have defaced with spray paint. Believe me when I tell you it does not deserve to be called graffiti.
It is from this point that if you face north, illustrated there by a cement marker just southeast of the stone that will tell you which way to face to see the Long Island Sound. There are a couple of benches for a bit of poetry reading and reflection.
“At more than 400 feet above sea level, Jayne’s Hill is 400 feet above sea level. It was named after the Jayne family who had owned it since the 1800s. The U.S. Government officially named it High Hill. An earlier name had been Oakley’s Hill, after a previous owner.” (Cynthia Blair: http://www.newsday.com/features/custom/names)
Directions to the Walt Whitman Interpretive Center: Hike will begin from the center up hill through a neighborhood. When you get to the top of the hill and see the sign for Jayne’s Hill, take a right and follow the white blazed.
Long Island Expressway to exit 49N, north 1.8 miles on Route 110, make a left onto Old Walt Whitman Road (Exxon Gas Station on corner), the Walt Whitman Birthplace will be on your right.
Northern State Parkway to exit 40N, north 1 mile on Route 110, make a left onto Old Walt Whitman Road (Exxon Gas Station on corner), the Walt Whitman Birthplace will be on your right.
Southern State Parkway to exit 32N, north approximately 10 miles on Route 110, make a left onto Old Walt Whitman Road (Exxon Gas Station on corner), the Walt Whitman Birthplace will be on your right.
Directions to the trailhead- all hiking in the woods, without a visit to the interpretive center: When choosing this option, note that you follow the white blazes until you come to a road- then cross the road and follow the blue blazes and you’ll return to the parking lot. If you follow the white blazes when you get to the road, it will take you down onto streets through the neighborhood where the Walt Whitman interpretive center is located. It will mean a long walk back uphill after visiting the center. When you walk back up, follow the blue blazes back to your car.
Brochure for Walt Whitman Interpretive Center: http://www.charityadvantage.com/waltwhitman/images/waltwhit03.pdf
http://www.hike-li.com/ligtc/2005/nov05.htm
http://www.whitmanarchive.org/
http://www.waltwhitman.org/Index.asp
