I step onto the winding boardwalk at Sailors Haven on a bright August morning, entering a world both ancient and alive. The air carries a delicate blend of salt and earth, tinged with the sweet scent of sassafras and bayberry. On one side of the island, the Great South Bay laps quietly; to the other, the Atlantic pulses gently. The hush of waves and the songs of birds form a timeless chorus to this living cathedral.
The forest around me is gnarled and intimate; grandfather trees knit a ceiling that filters light into silver threads. Beneath this cloak, lush ferns and moss carpet the ground, a testament to endless seasons of tenacious growth. This maritime grove is older than most could imagine—its story beginning thousands of years ago when retreating glaciers and shifting sands left a peaceful Eden among the dunes. As the landscape settled, the outpost rose like an island of resilience—the Sunken Forest, a steadfast bastion along the wild coast.
Over centuries, hurricanes and nor’easters have lashed and withdrawn, inundating the oasis with salt and sea. Yet here, where the earth steadied the roots, an ancient wood took hold to form an ecosystem unlike any other on the seaboard. I stop to peer at the oaks and cedars, their weathered trunks clad in textured bark, their twisting roots clutching the sandy earth. Ahead, a white-tailed deer, nose twitching, slips through dense shrubs—its fur tigered with sunlight. A flash from a red-winged blackbird colors the reeds as it glides to a higher perch.
Scientists say that roughly 300 years ago, this place was nothing more than a barren stretch of windblown sand. Gradually, beach grass and other pioneering plants took root, stabilizing the dunes and creating conditions for hardier species like beachheather and goldenrod to follow. These early colonizers trapped drifting sand and built organic matter into the soil, slowly transforming the harsh landscape into a more hospitable home despite scarce nutrients, which they drew from air, sea spray, and windborne minerals.
As the soil deepened and improved, a richer community emerged. Early pioneers gave way to trees and shrubs that now define the forest. Over time, the maritime forest seen today took shape. Within the protective embrace of the double dunes, the trees remain modest in height, never rising above the natural berms that shelter them.
Here, balanced between ocean and bay, the Sunken Forest endures—a quiet testament to time’s slow hand and nature’s enduring will.