The Nature Conservancy in New York - Long Island: Atlantic Double Dunes

The Atlantic Double Dunes are one of the largest and best representations of a double dune system in the United States.

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The history of this landscape can be told in the story of the sand dunes. The double dunes are comprised of a primary and secondary dune. Three thousand years ago, waves broke 100 to 1,200 feet farther inland than today's shoreline, creating the secondary dune.

In the thousands of years since, eroding material from the Montauk bluffs, carried by westerly currents, has built Long Island's beaches up and out. The shoreline has moved south, resulting in the creation of a new line of dunes - the primary dunes.

Location: East Hampton, Suffolk County. The preserve stretches for 3 miles from Atlantic Avenue in Amagansett to Old Beach Lane.

Size: 200 acres

What to See: Plants
The harsh primary dune environment closest to the sea supports a diverse community of plants specially adapted to the wind and salt, such as beach heather and the rare Pine Barrens sandwort.

The secondary dune is stabilized with oak, pitch pine and shadbush.

In between the two dunes are freshwater wetlands, some of the most biologically rich habitat on all of Long Island with respect to flora. They host many kinds of rare plants, including orchids.

What to See: Animals
The forest provides habitat for deer, red fox, box turtles, downy woodpeckers and more. The rare eastern spadefoot toad lives in the freshwater wetlands. Atlantic Double Dunes also serves as a flyway for migrating birds such as swallows, cedar waxwings, and sharp-shinned hawks.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site:
The double dune system is a unique geological formation and the Atlantic Double Dunes is one of the largest and best representations of this formation within the United States.