Laurel Lake Preserve — Attraction in Town of Southold

I came down to check out the possibility of some freshly stocked brown and rainbow trout but sadly came ill prepared. There is an easily accessible launch area for kayaking or smaller bass skiffs but everything that I saw from shore is cluttered w/overgrowth,no angles to get a good cast going. I'll be bringing my waders next time,there's a few spots w/easy sandy bottom to get out past the overhang. For the non-fishing set it's a moderate hike w/well defined main trails and other less so to vear off and explore. I did find a really cool sandpit approx the size of a couple of football fields. There's lots of fresh tracks from big deer,turkeys and fox(they've gotta be loving it cause there's tons of bunnies everywhere). This is a cool place to kill a couple of hrs between a stroll around Greenport and...

A pleasant walk in the woods (the full loop is 2.5 miles) but not very good views of the lake, and, at least in winter, you can hear traffic noise for much of the way. There are numerous side-trails so follow the well-marked arrows carefully. The trail only covers a portion of the preserve, and it would be great to have trails that loop around the lake, and also connect with Sound Ave...

Of course we always watch for ticks on hikes, but all 7 hikers in our group found 10+ ticks on their person after hiking the green trail. The town needs to heavily consider posting signs to remind all who walk here of tick safety. We followed all precautions as usual but this was crazy today! BEWARE! Especially new hikers/kids playing. Enjoyed the...