Hallock State Park Preserve
State park in New York, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hallock State Park Preserve (formerly Jamesport State Park)[4] is a 225-acre (0.91 km2) state park and nature preserve located in the towns of Riverhead and Southold in Suffolk County, New York.[1][2] The park is situated on Long Island's north shore, with nearly one mile (1.6 km) of beachfront facing Long Island Sound.[5][6]
Suffolk County, New York
| Hallock State Park Preserve | |
|---|---|
  Location within New York | |
| Type | State park, nature preserve |
| Location | Riverhead and Southold Suffolk County, New York |
| Coordinates | 40°58′59″N 72°35′20″W |
| Area | 225 acres (0.91 km2)[1] |
| Created | 2005[2] |
| Operator | New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation |
| Visitors | 39,586 (in 2024)[3] |
| Open | Year Round |
| Website | Hallock State Park Preserve |
History
The property that was to become Hallock State Park Preserve was formerly used for illegal sand mining during the 1960s, and was once intended to host the Jamesport Nuclear Power Plant planned by the Long Island Lighting Company during the 1970s. KeySpan Energy took ownership of the land in 1998.[7]
The preservation agreement encompassed approximately 525 acres (212 ha) of the former KeySpan property. Of this, 225 acres (91 ha) became state parkland, while approximately 300 adjoining acres were returned to agricultural use subject to a conservation easement requiring the land to remain in farming.[8]
The 225-acre property was formally designated Jamesport State Park and Preserve in May 2005, but the undeveloped site subsequently remained closed to general public access while visitor facilities were planned.[9] A master plan was adopted for the park in 2010, at which time the park's name was changed from Jamesport State Park to Hallock State Park Preserve.[4] The name change was intended to address the fact that the park was not located in nearby Jamesport; instead the park was named after a pond on the property.[10]
Impending development of the park's facilities was announced in 2014 after $3 million in funding was secured in the state's budget. The state funds joined an additional $3.9 million of development money that was received from selling the adjacent 300 acres (1.2 km2) parcel as protected farmland.[11] In July 2017, the developed preserve opened to the public following a $4.5 million project that included a 3,000-square-foot visitor center, two parking areas, new trails and beach access.[12][13]
Park description
The 225-acre (91 ha) preserve contains woodlands, maritime bluffs and beach, wetlands and Hallock Pond, a four-acre (1.6 ha) coastal plain pond.[14] The New York Natural Heritage Program identified 16 ecological communities within the park, including maritime beach, maritime shrubland, successional maritime forest, wetlands and dunes. Hallock Pond, a shallow groundwater-fed pond whose water level fluctuates naturally, was identified as the preserve's significant ecological community. The park's master plan designated the pond and a 100-foot (30 m) surrounding buffer as a Natural Heritage Area.[15]
It is intended to serve as a nature preserve in addition to allowing passive recreation such as hiking, fishing, non-motorized boating, and seasonal horse-riding and scuba diving. There is a park office and nature center, trails, and a road that passes farmland leading to an upper parking lot and trails to Hallock Pond and the Sound.[4] The bluffs provide views across Long Island Sound.
