Where: Belmont Lake State Park (North Babylon, NY)
What: Hike (trail, various), Peddle Boats (water)
Snacks: Babylon Bean North (North Babylon, NY)
Belmont Lake State Park has its own exit off the Southern State Parkway. This makes it simple to get to and difficult to drive by without noticing. There is a parking fee on season ($8 as of this writing). The parking lot is enormous. Belmont Lake State Park allows biking, has trail areas for horses and pedal boats (additional fee) for its namesake lake.
The Belmont Park lake loop is a well defined path that is about 1.3 miles and mostly paved. It is flat and wide enough to accommodate for multi-use. An underpass for the Southern State Parkway spokes from the loop and can lead you to Southards Pond Park snaking along the Carlls River. The underpass isn’t high so if you’re tall, you might need to duck. There are far more trails in and around the park but they don’t form neat loops like the aforementioned. These are still worth exploring.
The park has playgrounds, a picnic area and an outdoor games area. An ice cream truck showed up while I was there. The park has such a family friendly vibe.
See you on the trails,
x
Jess