Suffolk County Parks Department offers residents the ability to use Recreational Vehicles (or Off-Road Vehicles) on shoreline beaches. It’s safe to say that the limited spots at the beaches fill up quite often and are subject to change at any moment. Suffolk County Parks tries its best to notify residents by Twitter and Facebook on the closures that may happen during the day, whether it is due to Pipping Plovers, Capacity, or weather conditions.
In order to take your Off-road vehicle on the sandy beaches of Long Island, you do require a Recreational Vehicle Use permit. Not only does this permit allow access to take your 4×4 capable vehicle onto the beaches, it also includes access to designated beach areas that are accessible for night fishing.
For those who decide to visit a beach at night with this permit, you would need to have fishing gear present and be actively engaged in fishing, Suffolk County does enforce this and is pretty strict when it comes to this.
Once you’ve obtained your permit, you may enjoy access to any of the below beaches. Just remember, that they may fill up fairly quickly or may close due to weather conditions, maintenance, and pipping plovers.
- Cedar Point County Park in East Hampton
- Shinnecock West County Park in Hampton Bays
- *Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton
- *Montauk County Park in Montauk
- Northwest Harbor County Park in East Hampton
- Orient Point County Park in Orient
- *Shinnecock East County Park in Southampton
- Smith Point in Shirley
Residents who wish to apply for these permits may do so at any of the following parks:
- West Sayville
- Blydenburgh
- Cathedral Pines
- Cedar Point
- Indian Island
- Sears Bellows
- Smith Point
- Montauk (In Season)
- Cupsogue (In Season)
- Shinnecock East (In Season)
This is to have prior to visiting a park to purchase the permit:
- A Green Key Card in your name (If you do not have a Green Key you can purchase one simultaneously.)
- Your Vehicle Registration
- Your Driver’s License
- If you have a discounted Green Key you can only purchase one discounted Outer Beach Permit
*Outer beach camping is permitted at these locations with a self-contained camper only. (Self-contained units are defined as having a built-in flushable toilet with a built-in holding tank with a minimum capacity of 5 gallons.)
4×4 Permits can now be purchased online at: https://web1.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/nysuffolkctywt.wsc/search.html?module=PST&type=outerbeach