Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin At first glance, the busy Long Island town of Huntington may not seem like the place for a peaceful, historic walk. It is, however, the birthplace of Walt Whitman, and visitors, besides visiting his home, can follow his footsteps in a soft sand-bottomed forest nearby. The Suffolk County park of West Hills was one of many Long Island inspirations for the renowned poet.
The park is near Whitman’s 1819 birthplace and includes 401-foot Jayne’s Hill, the highest point on Long Island. Jo-Ann Raia (left), chair of the Time Capsule Project, and Cynthia Shor, executive director of the ..
. [+] Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, stand next to a time capsule that was sealed in Huntington in 2022 and will be opened 50 years later. (Photo: Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images) Whitman admired West Hills’ tall trees, apple orchards, cornfields and pastureland that stretched for miles and enjoyed sweeping views from 401-foot Jayne’s Hill.
Today, leaves on tall trees block the view, but, in late fall and winter, a sharp eye may see Orient Point on the eastern tip of Long Island or Connecticut across the Long Island Sound. “I write this back again in West Hills on the high elevation of Jayne’s Hill which we have reached by a fascinating winding road,” wrote an elderly Whitman during one of his last visits to the hilltop. “A view of 30 or 40 or even 50 or more miles, especially to the east and south and southwe.
