A Ride Around Lake Ronkonkoma Pt 7 - Raynor Beach County Park

The next stop on my ride around the lake was at Raynor Beach County Park, which is more commonly referred to as Raynor Park. This is the sign that welcomes you on the lake side:

Raynor Beach County Park Sign on Lake Shore Rd - Summer 2015

There are two signs actually, but the other one was hidden behind the overgrown bushes:

Raynor Beach County Park Sign on Lake Shore Rd - Summer 2015

The sidewalk heading back up Lake Shore Rd also randomly ends a little way's down.

This side also has its own small parking lot in addition to the parking lot across the street and the one on Ronkonkoma Avenue:

Raynor Beach County Park Parking Lot by Lake Shore Rd - Summer 2015

A few spots on the other side were sunken in and had standing water in them:

Raynor Beach County Park Parking Lot by Lake Shore Rd - Summer 2015

The picture below is of the staircase up into the park. They used to lead up to the Ondawa Hotel, which burned down in 1959.

If you look closely, you can see there was a random abandoned shopping cart on the right at the top of the steps:

Stairs up to Raynor Beach County Park from Lake Shore Rd - Summer 2015

Up the stairs and around the corner is this small playground:

Small Playground at Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

Just like in my later photo set from 2023, this playground was empty. It was in better shape back then and the weather was nice, but still no one was using it. It's basically just a smaller version of the one closer to Ronkonkoma Ave so I guess that's why people don't use it as much.

Here are some more of the facilities:

Chess boards at Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

Main path through Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

Tennis courts at Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

Baseball field at Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

Soccer field at Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

What I didn't take a picture of for the same reason as in my other post was the larger playground, which is where most of the people were.

Veterans Memorial at Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

The inscription reads "Veterans Memorial Park of the Ronkonkoma." Unfortunately I didn't think to get a closer shot of the plaque. 

Adjacent to the memorial is the stage:

Stage at Raynor Beach County Park - Summer 2015

Beyond this is another parking lot on the Ronkonkoma Ave side that I didn't photograph directly.

Bushes were hiding the sign on this side as well just below the One Way sign:

Automobile Exit from Raynor Beach County Park on Ronkonkoma Ave - Summer 2015

These bushes have since been removed so I feel kind of bad dunking on them, but only kind of.

Automobile Exit from Raynor Beach County Park on Ronkonkoma Ave - Summer 2015

One part of the park that I left out in this series and in my 2023 series is the trail through the woods on the northern end of the park. Maybe I'll remember to get a few next time I'm there.

After this I backtracked through the park and continued up Lake Shore Road to Pond Road. I took a handful of pictures of the church square which I'll share in my next and final post in this series.

A Ride Around the Lake Pt 6 - Lake Shore Road

This photo set starts a bit further down past Parsnip's where Smithtown Blvd becomes Lake Shore Road. This particular photo is from in front of the local artist's house who would make the Indian Princess of Lake Ronkonkoma carving just a year later:

Wood carvings on Lake Shore Road - Summer 2015

Here through the trees you get a view of the Town of Islip beach on the other side:

Lake Ronkonkoma Lake Shore Road with view of Town of Islip Beach - Summer 2015

This is also where you'll find St. Mary's Episcopal Church:

St. Mary's Episcopal Church on Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

I think I was focusing too much on getting the sidewalk in frame and ended up cutting the back part of the building off. 

Further down is the Welcome to Lake Ronkonkoma sign:

Welcome to Lake Ronkonkoma sign on Lake Shore Road - Summer 2015

On the grass island with the Welcome sign is a plaque and another smaller sign. Since there's no sidewalk or designated crossing onto the island, however, I imagine nobody reads the plaque. 

Off to the right there's a slip lane so people in cars can continue around a blind corner down Lake Shore Road towards a wedding venue and an assisted living facility without having to take their foot off the gas. Not a great design choice in my humble opinion. Maybe I'm biased as a cyclist, but I say put a modal filter so only bikes and pedestrians can continue down that way and have cars turn right at the light.

Off to the left on the corner where Lake Shore Road becomes Portion Road is an Eagle Scout project from 2006. It features a stone wall with a plaque and two benches on either side:

Eagle Scout Project on Lake Shore Rd - Summer 2015

Here's what the wall looks like closer up:

Eagle Scout Project on Lake Shore Rd - Summer 2015

And here is the inscription:

Eagle Scout Project on Lake Shore Road - Summer 2015

It reads:

"The Lake of Haunting Mystery

"Lake Ronkonkoma was once home to four Native American tribes known as the Nissequogues, Setaukets, Secatogues, and Unkechaugs. The term "Ronkonkomack" is translated according to the Algonquin language "boundary fishing place" which is understood as the four tribes fished and hunted within their boundary of the lake. The Indians believed the lake was bottomless with a terrible whirlpool as the hatch to the beyond. They also told the early settlers of the Indian Chief who imposed a curse on the lake after his daughter drowned while canoeing, against his wishes; with a young man. According to the curse, a man would drown in the lake every year after as the legend goes. 

"Forbidden by her family to marry out of her race, the Indian maiden used the waters of Lake Ronkonkoma to carry messages, written on pieces of tree bark, through an underground stream to her white lover, miles away on the Connetquot River.

"After seven long years of separation, Princess Ronkonkoma of the Setauket Tribe set out in a canoe on the lake one night, only to be found dead floating down the river the following day.

"Her spirit may still roam the shores of the lake named after her. In mourning, for the drowned Indian Princess, the waters of Lake Ronkonkoma may, as some say, rise and recede every seven years.

"Though there is no proof of the existence of Princess Ronkonkoma the legend lives on. But there is much more to this lake that its legends. The history dates back to 1655, when the Setauket Tribe bartered the Lake Ronkonkoma shoreline in exchange for the white man's valuables, Ronkonkoma has many colorful translations, among them are "glittering white sand", "healing waters" and to most historians "boundary fishing place". In the late 1700's, farming was the chief occupation for the local townspeople. In 1795, Portion Road was built, a path just wide enough for someone on horseback or by foot, then widened to permit wagons. Little by little the lake front developed into a fashionable haven for the wealthier people who had Summer estates here. A sweeping change came over the area with the expansion of the Long Island Rail Road in 1844. By the 1900's, Lake Ronkonkoma was transformed from a sleepy little farming community to a well-known Summer resort. In 1908, William Vanderbilt began building Motor Parkway which stretched from Jamaica Queens to the banks of Lake Ronkonkoma. In the late 1920's, the porches of gabled mansions overlooking the lake were splashed in sunshine with the sounds of a couple of thousand middles class people who came to spend the Summer. By 1950 - 1980's people began building housing developments and started calling Lake Ronkonkoma home.

"So at this site may it bring peace and serenity to those who take the time to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful piece of history called Lake Ronkonkoma."

I know ghost stories might seem like harmless fun, but if people are regularly drowning in the lake, I'd hope people are trying to figure out why instead of just shrugging and saying "it's Princess Ronkonkoma again (even though there is no proof of the existence of Princess Ronkonkoma)!"

I like the end note though, and that's exactly what I'm advocating for: make the lake something people can enjoy looking at, swimming in and walking and riding around, and not just an obstacle to get around in your car.

Just beyond the welcome sign is Windows on the Lake, the wedding venue I mentioned before:

Windows on the Lake on Lake Shore Road - Summer 2015

I couldn't really get a good shot of it because there's nowhere safe to stop. The perspective in the pictures above and below are from where the sidewalk randomly starts a little way's down the road where I could park my bike without leaving it in the narrow shoulder.

I liked this shot because the geese were crossing right by the wildlife crossing sign like it was their designated spot:

Canada Geese crossing Lake Shore Road - Summer 2015

Through the trees here you can see the Town of Islip beach on the other side of the lake:

Lake Shore Road with Lake Ronkonkoma Watershed sign - Summer 2015

The blue sign on the right reads: "Lake Ronkonkoma Watershed - ours to protect."

I took the picture below at the end of Harding Road to show how dangerous it is both for pedestrians and cyclists:

Lake Shore Road at the end of Harding Road - Summer 2015

This is a little bit past what is now Larry's Landing. Notice the sidewalk ends before this, the informal walking path ends completely, and the shoulder narrows before a blind curve. The safest way to navigate this on a bike is to ride in the middle of the lane so that cars coming up behind you will see you sooner and so they don't try to pass you in a blind curve. Not ideal and it'll likely annoy any drivers behind you, but you have little choice with no shoulder like that. 

A lot of people think riding against traffic is safer, but it's not. People pulling out of the driveways and side streets on the left aren't going to be expecting traffic coming from the wrong direction and will be looking to the left when they pull up to the corner and they may start rolling into the lane before looking right.

Anyhoo, back to the pretty pictures:

Lake Ronkonkoma from Lake Shore Road - Summer 2015

There's not any signs or paved paths leading to it, but there's another beach here on the Southeast shore of the lake, albeit this one's a bit more rocky:

Southeast Shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

Got another shot of my sick wheels by the water:

Beach Club Estate seen from Across Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

I'm pretty sure that's Beach Club Estate on the other side of the water, please correct me if I'm wrong.

From here there's an informal trail leading down to the water:

Southeast Shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

And through the trees you can see where people made a seating area out of some driftwood and 4x4s:

Southeast Shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

But before I went down there, I spotted a toad:

Toad on Southeast shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

I believe it was an American Toad, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Toad on Southeast shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

Here's a shot of the seating area mentioned above with Raynor Beach visible in the background:

Southeast shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

This shot below is facing North:

Southeast Shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

Here I walk a bit north and got a slightly different angle so you can see more of the opposite shore:

Southeast Shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

From the right, the long white building is Lake Towers Apartments which if my memory serves me has a plaque on it from 1924. Immediately left of that is the back deck of Parsnip's, then where Bavarian Inn used to be, then that longer stretch is the derelict part of Lake Shore Road, and on the far left is the County Beach on the Town of Smithtown side.

And here you can see how I know people sit here:

Garbage on Southeast shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

Beer cans and boxes, water bottles, and empty packs of cigarettes. The amount of garbage I came across on these stops was pretty sad. It seemed like the only place where the shoreline was cleaned up after was Raynor Beach and the Town of Islip Beach. 

And this is the way back up to Lake Shore Road, same way I went in:

Southeast shore of Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

 

Again I'll end on a high note with some waterfowl on a nicer section of the lake towards Raynor Beach:

Lake Ronkonkoma - Summer 2015

In my next post I get off the bike again and take a look around Raynor Park.

A Ride Around the Lake Pt 5 - Lily Pond Park

It's been eight years since I made the last post in this series, but I still have the pictures and vaguely remember my ride so I figured why not finish what I started. At this point I got off my bike and walked around a bit because I had never actually been in Lily Pond Park before so I took a fair amount of pictures in there.

I'll start off with a still of what you get a glimpse of when you speed by in your car:

Lake Ronkonkoma Lily Pond Park from Smithtown Blvd - Summer 2015

Lily Pond Park is quite beautiful and deserves better care than it gets. From what I've gathered, the local Boy Scouts and Four Harbors Audubon Society are making an effort which is promising.

This is what the entrance looked like:

Entrance to Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

This is a cycling blog after all so I figured it was about time to include a shot of my ride. 

As of 2023, the entrance doesn't look too different from the way it did eight years ago. Jason D Smagin is Commissioner now and not Greg Dawson, Steve Bellone is still County Executive, and they've added a sign designating it the Diane Spitz Memorial Preserve. While writing this I was happy to discover that nowadays there are regularly scheduled community cleanups on Earth Day in honor of Diane Spitz who helped take care of the park. As an aside, World Cleanup Day is this Saturday and is always on the third Saturday in September.

Anyhoo, right behind the gate you see in the picture above is this not so inviting sight: 

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

A crooked fence with busted barbed wire on top, almost like an abandoned prison. The signs say the park closes at dusk, dogs must be leashed and cleaned up after, no alcohol, no ice skating, park only in designated areas (what designated areas?), don't take or damage any plants or animals, and no dirtbikes or ATVs. The black box up on a pole in the top right is a bat house that was put up by Boy Scout Troop 197. There are a few of them throughout the park, which are a nice reminder that there actually are people making an effort. They help control the mosquito population too.

As I recall, I didn't go through the gap in the fence initially, probably because it would've felt like trespassing, but there was a trail off to the right, which looked like this:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Most of the trail was pretty narrow with a low canopy like this so hopefully that would discourage people from taking dirt bikes and ATVs through here. I left the bike locked up out front for the same reason. Perfect size for walking though. 

Throughout the trail there were lots of gaps in the foliage that offered a nice view of the pond, like this one:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Or this one:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Zoom out a bit though and you see this:

Garbage in Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Just like the lake across the street, it's really pretty, but some people trash it and don't seem to care. This far into the the park you know this garbage wasn't just carried here by the wind after a raccoon knocked over a garbage can; somebody brought it in here and left it here. Pretty sad. As I mentioned above, there are community cleanups every Earth Day so I imagine it looks a bit different by now.

A little ways down I took the picture that I'm using as a backdrop for the blog:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

I liked this one in particular because the tree on the right helps frame the sky in the center both on the top of the shot and in the reflection on the water.

Here's a bat house with a water view:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Here's a shot of what I reckon are the lilies that the pond is named after: 

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

If you look closely though, that's not a red Christmas bauble hanging from that branch, but a bobber left behind by someone fishing.

I don't recall seeing any fish, but I do remember hearing frogs plop into the water as I walked along. They were so skittish though I unfortunately didn't get a picture of one.

Here's a bird house on the other side of the water:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

 

The muddy banks make me think the water level must go up and down a fair amount from time to time.

Another shot of the green canopied trail: 

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Some would call this overgrown, but I thought it was kind of cool. It makes the park feel a bit more remote, even if you can still hear the traffic on Smithtown Blvd.

Another nice shot of the pond:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Again I had to include another perspective to get the full picture:

Garbage in Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

A shoe! A freakin' shoe! Drinks and food wrappers are gross too, but at least they make sense, like I can imagine someone sitting by the water and having something to eat or drink then being a slob and leaving their garbage behind, but how did someone end up leaving a single shoe here!? Feel free to make up a story and share in the comments.

This is from the same spot, just looking left:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Another bat house with a view of the water. 

I liked this shot below because there was a narrow sort of tunnel at eye level where you could see through the foliage and across the water:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

A bat house right above the trail. Sadly you can see some garbage on the ground here too:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

And then there was this nest of fishing line tangled in a branch:

Garbage in Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

I used to fish a fair amount as a kid, and I've definitely had my line get snagged on logs in the water where all I could do was cut it, but with this much brush, I don't know why anyone would think this would be a good place to fish in the first place. There's no space to cast, let alone reel your line back in without it getting stuck somewhere.

But I digress. I was happy to get a shot of a dragonfly perched by the water:

Dragonfly in Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Fun fact: dragonfly nymphs eat mosquito larvae!

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Another pathway leading down to the water:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

This path had a lot of gravel which I thought was interesting:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

If you look more closely, you can see chunks of asphalt from what used to be a road:

Asphalt from old road through Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

In case you're still skeptical, here's where it's really obvious that this used to be a road:

Remains of old road in Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

Looks like the ground was eroded out from the bottom until the whole section sunk into the water. Or maybe the water level was lower? If anyone reading knows more about this old road, please share in the comments.

From satellite pictures it looks like what's now the fenced off entrance used to be part of Steuben Blvd and from there continued to the derelict section of Lake Shore Road:

Lily Pond Park from Google Maps Satellite View - 2023

Lily Pond Park from Google Maps Satellite View with marking of former roadway

The walkable trails from this picture series are in the crow's foot in the middle of the pond and the loop immediately around it. It seemed like the only way in or out of this section was from the entrance on Smithtown Blvd. There are signs for Lily Pond Park on Steuben, but it seemed like the trails there don't connect to the section on Smithtown Blvd.

I understand closing access to automobile through traffic, but I think it'd be pretty cool if they made a walking trail extending from the end of Steuben, through Lily Pond Park to Smithtown Blvd with a crosswalk across, and then have the trail end on Lake Shore Road where you can still see the remains of a t-intersection. 

People living around Steuben Blvd could comfortably walk to Lake Ronkonkoma (anyone wanna increase their home value?) which would help tie Lily Pond Park into the Lake Ronkonkoma Park across the street. On the one hand more foot traffic might mean more litter, but more "eyes on the street" might also discourage people from littering.

Anyhoo, I'll end this one with a final shot of the water surrounded by greenery:

Lily Pond Park - Summer 2015

In my next post I'll share some shots from the route along Lake Shore Road between here and Raynor Park. If you were as sad as I was that I didn't get any pictures of frogs in Lily Pond Park, I got one by the lake off Lake Shore Road so you have something to look forward to!