Cedar Creek: The winter place to be

"This is absolutely the place to go when it snows,” Dimitri Smaragdas, of Wantagh, said as his 6-year-old daughter, Juliet, went up and down the hills at Cedar Creek Park after last week’s snowstorm.

Hundreds of people from Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa, Bellmore, Merrick and other communities filled the Nassau County park the afternoon of Jan. 27. Schools were closed, there was a fresh foot of snow on the ground, and sleds had been dormant since last winter.

Cedar Creek Park, south of Merrick Road on the Wantagh/Seaford border, is well known, like Smaragdas said, as the place to go after it snows. With numerous hills, it is the ideal spot as everyone can have some space to sled. And it’s not just for little kids. Teenagers, college students and even the occasional adult can be found heading down one of those hills.

Patrick Joseph Harrington III, 16, a sophomore at Wantagh High School, said the slopes are ideal for sledding, and the snow packs down well giving him a little extra speed.

“The environment, it’s very friendly,” said Harrington, who was there last week with about a dozen friends. “It’s local. This is the place to be.”

Isaac Zacharia, who grew up in Seaford and now lives in Merrick, regularly brings his two children there after a snowstorm. He said they couldn’t wait for snow this winter.

Zacharia, who frequented Cedar Creek Park himself as a child, also agreed that it is the ideal place to go for sledding “They’ve got these three great hills,” he said. “They’re just the right size.”

Christian Rega, 15, attends Chaminade High School, so he likes being able to meet up with his friends from Wantagh on a snow day and do something fun. He said he has been going sledding at Cedar Creek since he was 5, and can’t think of a winter he has missed.

Rega said he likes that there are no trees on the hill, giving him and his friends a clear path to the bottom.

For many people, sledding a Cedar Creek Park is a tradition. James Branch, who grew up in Farmingdale, would go there as a child with his father. Now he lives in Seaford, and this year he brought his 3-year-old daughter, Claire, for her first sledding adventure. “Third generation down the hill,” he said.

Claire, using an inflatable sled, was all smiles. “She’s having a blast,” her father said, adding that they were anxiously awaiting the first big snowfall of the year.

Lisa and Brian Ambrosino bought their home in Seaford because of its proximity to Cedar Creek Park, so their two children could enjoy the fields and playgrounds. Being able to go there to sled has been an added bonus. “Plus we can walk,” Lisa said, “and not have to drive if it’s dangerous.”