Park Statistics

Acreage

The boundary of Fire Island National Seashore extends approximately 4,000 feet into the Great South Bay, and approximately 1,000 feet seaward of the ocean shoreline. The seashore includes several islands, sand flats, and wetlands landward of the of the barrier island.

Within its boundaries, Fire Island National Seashore encompasses 19,580.29 acres of marine and terrestrial property.

• 9,127 acres Aquatic or Submerged Lands
• • 20% Atlantic Ocean (including 26 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline)
  • 80% Great South Bay (75 miles of bay-side shoreline, including 26 bay islands)
    
• 10,435 acres Upland or Terrestrial Lands
• • On Fire Island
  • • 40% wetlands (salt marsh, freshwater marsh)
    • 25% open (beach, swale, fields)
    • 25% developed (by either the National Park Service or the 17 local communities on Fire Island)
    • 10% forested (includes the Sunken Forest and other areas)
  • At William Floyd Estate
  • • 65% forested
    • 25% wetlands
    • 5% open space
    • 5% developed

Federal (6,241.95 acres):

• 3,090.44 acres owned by the National Park Service (NPS Fee Acres), including:
• • 1,380 acres of federally-designated Fire Island Wilderness
  • 617.79-acre William Floyd Estate in Mastic Beach, NY
• 3,151.51 acres NPS or Other Federal Less Than Fee Acres
  (This includes an easement over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean from mean high water [MHW] to 1,000 feet offshore.)

Non-Federal (13,338.34 acres):

• 12,422.73 acres of Other Public Lands
• • Smith Point County Park (approx. 1,030 acres)
  • Village of Bellport Beach (approx. 16.4 acres)
  • Atlantique Beach (Town of Islip)
  • Leja Beach/Davis Park (Town of Brookhaven)
  • Publicly-owned bay bottom and bay islands
• 915.61 acres of privately owned lands within the designated boundary of Fire Island National Seashore, including homes and businesses within the 17 Fire Island communities

Learn more about the establishment of the seashore, its enabling legislation and management documents.

 

Visitation Statistics

The busiest months at Fire Island National Seashore are July and August, and the busiest days are Saturday and Sunday.

In 2017, 681,518 people visited National Park Service sites on Fire Island.

This figure is for visitation to park-owned sites only, and do not reflect the actual number of people spending time within the boundaries of Fire Island National Seashore. It is estimated that more than 2.2 million people annually come to Fire Island, either into one of the 17 Fire Island communities, on waters surrounding the island, or to one of the national seashore facilities.

The National Park Service Public Use Statistics website includes detailed visitation data for Fire Island from 1967 to the present, as well as statistics for other National Park Service areas.