Fire Island Inlet is an inlet on the south shore of Long Island, New York, USA.
It connects the Great South Bay with the Atlantic Ocean, passing between Robert Moses State Park (the western end of Fire Island) on the south and Oak Beach and Captree State Park (the eastern end of Jones Beach Island) on the north.
The inlet is directly south of West Islip, the nearest town on the main part of Long Island.
The inlet has evolved over the years due to natural processes, especially longshore drift. Jones Island and Fire Island at one time were connected.
The Fire Island Light was at the mouth of the inlet when built in 1858, but is now 6 miles (9.7 km) east of the inlet.
The northwest side of the mouth of the inlet is known as the Sore Thumb, it is a manmade barrier that was created to try to combat the extensive erosion of the beaches inside the inlet. The southeast side of the mouth of the inlet is known as Point Democrat and is known as a popular surfing spot for beach goers, it is also the site of extensive preserves for the areas birds.
Famous quotes containing the words fire, island and/or inlet:
“The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We crossed a deep and wide bay which makes eastward north of Kineo, leaving an island on our left, and keeping to the eastern side of the lake. This way or that led to some Tomhegan or Socatarian stream, up which the Indian had hunted, and whither I longed to go. The last name, however, had a bogus sound, too much like sectarian for me, as if a missionary had tampered with it; but I knew that the Indians were very liberal. I think I should have inclined to the Tomhegan first.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Of lower states, of acts of routine and sense, we can tell somewhat; but the masterpieces of God, the total growths and universal movements of the soul, he hideth; they are incalculable. I can know that truth is divine and helpful; but how it shall help me I can have no guess, for so to be is the sole inlet of so to know.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)