Cape May Point Beach
Cape May Point, NJ
Cape May Point Beach sits inside Cape May Point State Park, one of the only beaches in the county with no entry fee and no beach badge at all. The 157 foot lighthouse behind the dunes charges its own separate admission for the 199 step climb, but the beach and the park's freshwater trails cost nothing to walk.
A free beach and a genuinely significant lighthouse and nature preserve in one place is hard to match, though the nesting season closures mean summer visitors get less of the park than they might expect.
How we score beachesSkip the lighthouse climb on a hazy day. The 199 steps and the admission fee are only worth it when visibility is good enough to actually see the peninsula spread out below.
A large, paved lot at the state park is free, a rarity for a beach this close to Cape May's more commercial center.
Paved paths lead from the lot toward the beach and lighthouse, flat and manageable for strollers, though the beach itself is a soft sand walk from the path's end.
Pets aren't permitted on the beach from April through mid September, and never on the nature trails. Leashed dogs are welcome on the beach the rest of the year.
Water warms into the low to mid 70s by August, right in the middle of the park's nesting closure for endangered shorebirds. Fall migration brings some of the best birdwatching in the state through the park's freshwater ponds and meadows.
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