Sunken Meadow State Park
Sunken Meadow State Park, also known as Governor Alfred E. Smith State Park, is a state park located in the Town of Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York on the north shore of Long Island. The park, accessible via the Sunken Meadow State Parkway, contains the 27-hole Sunken Meadow State Park Golf Course and the Sunken Meadow Nature Center.
Park description
Sunken Meadow State Park is open year-round from sunrise to sunset. The park's features include of beaches on the Long Island Sound, a boardwalk, of hiking trails, and facilities for biking, horseback riding, watersports, and general recreation. Located in Field 1 is the Sunken Meadow Nature Center, which offers dozens of educational programs throughout the year. Playgrounds, softball fields, and soccer fields are also available at the park. A wedding and event facility known as "The Pavilion" is available during the summer.The Sunken Meadow State Park Golf Course features 27 holes that may be played as either nine or 18 holes, in addition to a driving range and putting green. The first two nine-hole courses, Red and Green, were built in 1962, followed by the Blue Course in 1964. All three courses were designed by Alfred Tull. A bar and snack food restaurant near the course is available and open to the public year round.
The park's grounds are used as a venue for cross country running, and host competitions for cross country teams from local high schools and runners' clubs. The five-kilometer course, featuring the deliberately named "Cardiac Hill", is regarded as one of the most difficult cross country courses in the US.
The Long Island Greenbelt Trail connects Sunken Meadow State Park with Heckscher State Park.
Marsh Habitat Restoration
In the 1950's, an earthen berm was constructed across the Sunken Meadow Creek to allow vehicular traffic and to control mosquito populations. This blocked tidal flow from entering the creek, allowing invasive plants such as Phragmites australis, to thrive and for pollution to build up.Image:Steep Coast Sunken Meadow State Park.jpg|thumb|upright|Steep coast and beach at Sunken Meadow State ParkIn 2008, New York State Parks, along with other organizations such as the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Long Island Sound Study, Save the Sound, and the National Fish and Wildlife Service, began researching the possibility of replacing the berm with a foot-bridge. In 2011, official planning for the project commenced and by October 2012, the bridge design was complete.However, on October 29th, 2012, Hurricane Sandy brought strong winds, storm surge, and rainfall to the Long Island region, which blew out the berm. This caused tidal flow to be restored for the first time in decades and for invasive species to be pushed out of the marsh and native species to be reintroduced.
Construction of the bridge was completed in October 2013, one year after Hurricane Sandy. Numerous restoration projects have taken place since, such as planting projects for smooth cordgrass '' and erosion control projects. In 2025, the National Audubon Society received a $1.5 million grant award from the National Wildlife and Fish Service to aid in marsh restoration. This project focuses on removing invasive plants, elevation enhancement, and hydrological repair.
Since restoration began, the marsh has become an educational hub, with both the Sunken Meadow Nature Center and the Western Suffolk BOCES Outdoor Learning Lab using the area to teach students about habitat restoration and native wildlife.