Water Mill is the hamlet most people drive through. It sits on Montauk Highway between Southampton and Bridgehampton, and in July the traffic gives it about forty seconds of attention. After Columbus Day it becomes one of the better places on the South Fork to spend an unhurried day: an ocean beach with no parking fight, a bay that turns silver in the late afternoon, a museum with a long view of the fields, and enough farm left to remember what the place was named for.

The mill itself

The name is literal. Edward Howell built a water-powered grist mill here around 1644, with millstones cut from boulders found in the moraine north of the site, and the town of Southampton backed the project. The mill was moved south in stages, in 1726 and again in 1790, to its present spot on Old Mill Road beside a combined dam and roadway. Historians think it was more likely rebuilt from salvaged parts than carried whole.

Today it is the Water Mill Museum, a restored working grist mill. The museum runs a warm-weather season and closed for 2026 after October 11, reopening in late May. Out of season the building is still worth the stop from the outside, and the pond behind it is one of the prettiest small views in the hamlet.

Flying Point Beach

Flying Point Road runs south from the village to the ocean at Flying Point Beach, Water Mill's main ocean access in the Southampton Town system. In summer the lot runs on permits and daily passes, with lifeguards from Memorial Day weekend and daily operation from July 1 through Labor Day. From fall into spring the scene changes completely: a few dog walkers, a surfer or two if there is swell, and a long stretch of beach with Mecox Bay on one side.

Walking, biking and drop-off access are free in every season. The late-afternoon walk east along the waterline toward the Mecox cut is the one worth doing, timed to finish before the light goes, which by November means arriving by mid-afternoon.

Mecox Bay

The bay is shallow and brackish, and its cut to the ocean opens and closes, which is why it looks different every visit. Mecox Road traces part of its edge and passes two of the stops that keep Water Mill's farm identity intact: the Milk Pail's seasonal farm stand, closed by late fall, and further along, Mecox Bay Dairy in Bridgehampton, where Art and Stacy Ludlow make cheese from their own Jersey herd. The dairy's farm store is open seven days.

The Parrish Art Museum

The Parrish sits on Montauk Highway in a long, low building set back from the road. It is open Thursday through Monday, 11 AM to 5 PM, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and the grounds keep the same hours daily. Adult admission is $20, and children under 18, students with ID, veterans and SNAP recipients get in free.

The collection centers on artists who have lived and worked on the East End, which makes the Parrish the right museum for a day spent looking at the same light those painters chased. The café takes cards only. There is ample parking behind the building, and from the city the museum is a short taxi from the Southampton LIRR station or Jitney stop.

The Watermill Center

North of the highway, the Watermill Center is the laboratory for the arts founded in 1992 by the director Robert Wilson, set on about ten acres of Shinnecock ancestral territory. It runs year-round residencies, and its grounds and gardens are open to the public from dawn to dusk, free, outside scheduled events. The art placed through the landscape makes it one of the stranger and more rewarding free walks on the East End. Check the calendar before going, since events close the grounds.

The Milk Pail Farm Market

The Milk Pail's u-pick orchard runs from Labor Day weekend to about the end of October, and the Mecox Road stand closes for the season. The Farm Market on Montauk Highway stays open every day but Tuesday, selling the orchard's apples long after the harvest and the cider donuts that disappear by early afternoon.

A Water Mill day, October through May

• 11 AM: The Parrish, with an hour in the galleries and a walk across the meadow.
• 1 PM: Apples and whatever else the Milk Pail market has, for the house.
• 2 PM: The Watermill Center grounds, if no event is on.
• 3 PM: Flying Point, walking east toward Mecox until the light flattens.
• Dinner: Back at the house, which is where the evening belongs in the off-season.

Cannabis in Water Mill

Water Mill has a state-licensed dispensary on Montauk Highway, which makes it one of the few hamlets east of the canal where adults 21+ can shop without a detour. Delivery from the licensed stores on County Road 39 in Southampton also reaches most Water Mill addresses. Verify licensed status via the OCM QR code at cannabis.ny.gov before buying anywhere.