Hempstead Lake State Park

one of the better parks/picnic areas on Long Island

I ride my bike around this park regularly. it is nice and well maintained. there are spots down by the water where teenagers drink and they leave all their garbage, so that kinda sucks.

I CALL THIS LAKE PARADISE!!! THIS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE!!! I'VE ENJOYED THE PARK SINCE CHILDHOOD AND BEEN FISHING HERE SINCE I WAS 9yrs OLD AND IF YOU'RE AN AVID ANGLER ,YOU'LL CATCH SOME NICE FISH!!!! PLEASE HONOR THE CATCH AND RELEASE POLICY!!! ENJOY THE PARK AND GOOD FISHING!!!!

I walked the main lake of this park. The trails are overgrown with poison ivy, and littered with camping tents and other garbage. Even the paths to the middle lake are over grown and not great for walking with children or anyone sensitive to poison ivy. There's no games or other activities to do. The catch and release fishing is fun, as there's plenty of hungry fishes to be caught.

Thanks to the park map and the photo posted on the NYS Park System website, I have decided to checked this park out to see if it's somewhere closer home to relax and to enjoy a hot meal by a manicured lakeside in with family and/or acquaintances. It is not.

The park ground is generally well kept and mosquito-free. There is a huge cobweb outside the restroom but it is very clean within. There is a sausage in one of the grill stands and quite a few of these are unswept but those probably do not add up enough to bar enjoyment. The facilities are, however, all far removed from the lake.

A few very run down picnic tables are dumped by the southern side of the Northeast Pond. The area is intended for model boat maniacs who probably are expected to care about nothing but their model boats. There are tables only, no grills. Water in the pond looks murky.

I hiked the Hempstead Lake Trail on the side where all the facilities are located. I gathered so little view of the lake from among the tree branches that I decided not to waste my time finishing the trail on the opposite side of the lake where there are no facilities. There are access paths that lead down to the lakeside. Those give a generous dose of lakeview. Do expect to cater for mosquitoes if you contemplate quiet enjoyment of the lake for a couple of minutes down there. A couple of these are quite badly littered.

Things could be different on the trail I did not travel. It does appear that the lake is there to regulate the temperature only.