Jones Beach and Long Beach

There’s wonderful beach and boardwalk running at Long Beach and Jones Beach, located on the on the Atlantic Ocean at the western end of Nassau County.

Long Beach. A festive boardwalk runs along a section of Long Beach for 2.2 miles between Neptune Blvd. and New York Ave. Wide, with ample room for running. Great water views. Bonus: Lit at night!  It’s also possible to run on the beach, but the sand tends to be softer. ROUTE MAP

Jones Beach. Located west of Long Beach (but not connected), there is some lovely running here on several paths trails, and boardwalks that can be mixed and matched. The Jones Boardwalk runs alongside the beach for nearly 2 miles. MAP  On the north side of Ocean Pkwy., there are another 2-3 miles of paths in the area, including a sandier path that goes east along Zachs Bay. The 6.5 mile long beach itself is also quite runnable, with some firmer sand than Long Beach. The Boardwalk path connects to the Jones Beach Bikeway, MAP, which runs for ~5 miles from Jones Beach to Wantagh Park/Cedar Creek Park (which has ~2-3 miles of waterfront trails).

Ocean Parkway Coastal Greenway. A paved multi-use path runs between Jones Beach and Captree State Park at the eastern end of Jones Beach Island. It’s up to 13.7 miles. The cycle path, completed in 2021, runs on the north side of Ocean Parkway. MAP

At the Jones Beach end, the Greenway connects to the paved Jones Beach Bikeway, which runs for ~5 miles from Jones Beach to Wantagh Park/Cedar Creek Park (which have ~2-3 miles of waterfront trails). MAP

Wantagh Park/Cedar Creek Park. A lovely green space just north of Jones Beach. There are fields, an outdoor pool, and ~2-3 miles of trails combining the two parks.