This area was deposited by a glacier over 22,000 years ago and is part of a small stretch of land extending west to Shadmoor State Park that includes Long Island's only oceanfront bluffs. The bluffs consist of layers of soils of differing thickness and hardness, and weathering and erosion by flooding rain, crashing waves, wind, and time wear them away, with softer sand eroding faster than clay. Over time, these processes create remarkable formations called hoodoos, but the same forces also destroy them, and they eventually collapse under the power of the sea. Similar formations seen by Europeans in the western United States were called hoodoos, a name derived from "voodoo" meaning an evil spell or something that causes bad luck, while Native Americans of the west believed hoodoos were the home of spirits. Although erosion makes the bluffs vulnerable, it also creates ideal nesting habitat for bank swallows, which cling to the bluff face and excavate burrows where they raise their young safe from predators.
