Terrapin Nature Park Beach
Stevensville, MD
Terrapin Nature Park covers 276 acres on the north side of Kent Island, with a long, narrow natural beach facing west toward Annapolis and the Bay Bridge just south of it. Locals come as much for the sea glass that regularly washes up as for the swimming, with trails through wildflower meadows, wetlands, and tidal ponds filling out the rest of the visit.
Sea glass hunting and genuine wetlands trails set this apart from a standard swim beach, the water itself is calm but this isn't the spot for serious swimming laps.
How we score beachesWalk the shoreline slowly with your eyes down if you're after sea glass. Early morning after a windy night tends to turn up the most.
A lot at the park entrance, free to use.
Flat trails connect the parking area to the beach; the path is natural ground rather than paved the whole way.
Water warms into the mid 70s by August. Spring and fall bring the best light for photos of the Bay Bridge and tend to have the calmest water for wading.
More Atlantic Coast beaches
Coast Guard Beach
Eastham, MA · Atlantic Coast
A National Seashore beach backed by grassy dunes and a tidal marsh, with clean Atlantic surf and one of the Cape's most scenic approaches on foot from the parking area.
Surfside Beach
Nantucket, MA · Atlantic Coast
Open Atlantic swell and a wide sandy shoreline about three miles from Nantucket town, popular with locals for its bodysurfing waves and quieter, less commercial feel.
Jones Beach State Park
Wantagh, NY · Atlantic Coast
A classic Long Island beach with six and a half miles of shoreline, a landmark water tower, boardwalk, and a large outdoor amphitheater that hosts concerts through the summer.