#Assateague national seashore for free
#Assateague national seashore portable

Enjoy Outdoor Recreation and Wildlife Viewing – The island has miles of pristine beach, picnic areas, and designated areas for fishing and boating.

For your own safety, keep your distance and do not feed or pet them. For a close up view of the ponies, you can also paddle a kayak or take a guided boat cruise. In Virginia, the ponies may be seen in the marshes along Beach Road and from the observation platform on the Woodland Trail.

The “Life of the Forest” and “Life of the Marsh” nature trails are good places to look. See the Wild Ponies - In Maryland, drive slowly along the park roads and stop and park in the designated parking areas on the Bay side of the park.Vehicles must return to the mainland to access either the north or south entrance. There is no vehicle access between the two entrances on Assateague Island. The south entrance (Virginia) is at the end of Route 175, two miles from Chincoteague. Getting to Assateague Island: There are two entrances to the island: The north entrance (Maryland) is at the end of Route 611, eight miles south of Ocean City. Hotel accommodations are located nearby in Ocean City and Berlin, MD and Chincoteague, VA. Camping is available in the Maryland portion of the island. Fish and Wildlife Service and Assateague State Park, managed by Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. Assateague Island consists of three public areas: Assateague Island National Seashore, managed by the National Park Service Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. It is a unique vacation destination with breathtaking scenery and plenty of recreational opportunities including fishing, crabbing, clamming, kayaking, bird watching, wildlife viewing, hiking, and swimming. Dogs are welcome which is fun to see.Assateague Island, a 37-mile long barrier island located off the coast of Maryland and Virginia, is most known for the more than 300 wild ponies who wander the beaches. I’d recommend bringing some lawn chairs to sit and relax. It was thrilling to see one run from about 100 yards to join them. We parked in the lot and walked a short distance to the beach and saw a grouping of 5 horses. Those folks looked like they were having a ball, mist with chairs and picnics. I wished we’d had a 4wd so we could have purchased a permit to allow us to drive onto the sand for the day to enjoy the surf.

#Assateague national seashore for free

Because we were active duty military we were able to get into the park for free but there is a ranger entrance for fees to enter.

#Assateague national seashore portable

They have put up temporary portable bathrooms in the parking lot. The displays at the Visitors Center are closed due to COVID as well as the bathrooms. We visited during the off-season and I found it more crowded than I would have thought. What a great trip from nearby Ocean City where we were vacationing! Best of all, there is a Food Lion grocery store on the way so you can pack a picnic lunch to enjoy while in the park.

Anytime we were in the open air, the wind blew enough to keep the bitting flies away. We didn't have bitting fly issues late in Sept, but it was unbearable over Labor Day while in a beach tent, where the air was stagnant. So we picked another site and was happy enough with the landscape of it, however, the winds brought the smell of the outhouses on occasion.īathrooms are clean enough for me, a germaphobe, and the showers were nice and spacious with hooks. It was literally not the same with the way the sand was blowing it. It wasn't available and when we walked to see it, the landscape completely changed. The first time there, we thought we had a great campsite, but we walked and made note of all our other choices if ours wasn't going to be available the following year. You can't pin point a certain camp site due to the every changing sands due to wind. We also drove around and enjoyed the bay side. Yes, we saw horses both times & they're beautiful and fun to see. I'm sure you can't time it, but it was VERY windy over Labor Day weekend, despite sand stakes for the tent. Weather was perfect and the water swimmable. The first time, we went in late Sept., the second time Labor Day.īoth were great. We made reservations to camp on the sand side when the reservations opened - about 6 months in advance.