Jones Beach State Park

Jones Beach State Park runs for 10 kilometers along the Atlantic coast of Jones Beach Island, a barrier island just off Long Island and about an hour's drive from Manhattan. Opened in 1929, it was the flagship project of city planner Robert Moses, who built New York's first car-accessible public beach for the masses here. Defining landmarks are the 70-meter water tower with its brick campanile-like silhouette, the Art Deco sandstone bathhouses, and the two-mile boardwalk. On hot weekends the park draws up to 200,000 visitors and ranks among the most visited state parks in the United States. Beyond the beach there is a theater, a pitch-and-putt golf course, and the West End boardwalk popular with pelican watchers. The park is on the National Register of Historic Places.