Moore's Beach
Maurice River Township, NJ
Moore's Beach sits at the end of a mile long dirt road through Heislerville Wildlife Management Area, a road so pitted with potholes and prone to flooding at high tide that most sedans have no business attempting it. What's waiting at the end is a quiet stretch of restored Delaware Bay shoreline, valued more for shorebird viewing than for swimming.
A genuinely restored, wildlife rich piece of shoreline that birders specifically seek out, but the rough access road is a real barrier that keeps it firmly off the radar for a normal beach day.
How we score beachesCheck the tide before you drive in. The access road floods at high tide, and getting stuck out on the marsh with the water coming up is a genuinely bad situation, not just an inconvenience.
There's no formal lot, just the end of the access road where it meets the bay. High clearance or four wheel drive is strongly recommended given the road's condition.
The mile long access road is uneven dirt and gravel, not suited to strollers or wheelchairs, and can be walked if driving in isn't an option.
Bay water warms into the mid to upper 70s by August, though most visitors come for birding rather than swimming. Spring and early summer bring the heaviest shorebird activity as migration passes through the surrounding marsh.
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