By lirunning.com - Red Creek Park, Hampton Bays. Directions: Sunrise Highway to exit 65N (Route 24), make first right on to Old Riverhead Road. The second left is the entrance to Red Creek Park. This is a small 2 mile loop through the park. Once you know the area, there are other trails you can loop in and out of within the park, and other trails outside the park to make this as long as you want to go. Red Creek Park is owned by the town of Southampton. The Town Park area has bathrooms and water available, always a good way to start a run. Picnic areas, ball fields, playground, basketball courts, and skateboard area all makes for a great place to bring the family while you head for the trails for a run. The trail is maintained by the Southampton Trails Preservation Society. The trail starts on the right side of the first baseball diamond on the right. At the entrance of the trail is a box with maps. Take one, it will help. This first section of trail is also an exercise path with places to stretch, do pull ups, sit ups, etc. As the path meanders over some small but rolling hills, you will come to a dirt road. Turn right and stay on the dirt road for about 30 yards. On the left there is a bench and a marker, post 1. There is a wide path and a narrow path. Take the narrow. About a hundred yards in is a sharp downhill, do not take it, make a left instead. This will take you down into a kettle hole and out the other side. You will hear the bullfrogs as you go by. As you climb a small hill on your way out of the hole, you will make a sharp left. Post 2. Follow this trail as it widens to a bench and make a left. Post 3. You are now on the Pinebarrens white trail. The Pinebarrens trail is blazed with white square markings on the trees. When you see two markings on a diagonal, It is time to make a turn. You should turn toward the direction of the top square. If it is to the right of the bottom square you turn right, and left, you turn left. If you followed these white blazes to the end, you could run to Rocky Point, about 50 miles away. If you followed them in the other direction, you would run to Montauk, about 75 miles. I hope you ate your Wheaties. If not, follow my directions and I will get you back to Red Creek Park. Keep going straight when you come to an intersection of trails. You should head between the two stumps, straight ahead. Soon the trail will dead end at another trail. Follow the markings to the left. About 25 yards down that trail you will find park post 5. Turn right up a small hill. (All hills on this course are small, there just one after the other that makes this so challenging). After a while you will come to another trail crossing. Park post 6 and a bench. No time to rest here but make sure you turn left. Straight will take you into county land. This is where if you make a wrong turn, you could end up in Rocky Point. Making the left will bring you back to the dirt road. Make another left here. In about a quarter of a mile you will find the trail back to the ballfields to the right. Take it back if you want a short run, or go straight and pick up the trail again on the left and do another lap. You can also zig zag up and down the cross trails to vary your workout. The East End Road and Trail Runners Club uses this trail for our cross country membership runs in the Fall and Spring. In the Summer we use it for "The Hampton Bays Cross Country Classic" to benefit the Hampton Bays High School track team.

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