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Bring a long lens or take a pony watching tour.
jennifermueller Says: Assateague ponies, made famous by Marguerite Henry's novel "Misty of Chincoteague" and it's sequels, aren't always hanging out close to the trails. There are several outfits that offer pony watching tours by boat where you can get much closer to the horses than we did.Still,...
grandmaR Says: When we were camping on Assateague in 1956, we saw ponies. I don't know about the status in 1956, but now the horses are split into two main herds, one on the Virginia side and one on the Maryland side of Assateague. They are separated by a fence at the Virginia/Maryland...
PinkFloydActuary Says: After all the hiking, the family wanted a chance to dip their toes in the Ocean. Parking for North Ocean Beach was plentiful early in the day, and they do provide changing areas and a pump to wash your feet off of sand. From the parking lot, there's a new wooden bridge that...
PinkFloydActuary Says: The first trail upon entering the park, but we saved this for last (mainly because I missed the turn off for it.) The first tip - reapply your repellent again. Like the others, this trail is a loop trail that is about a half mile long. This one is mostly raised boardwalk...
PinkFloydActuary Says: The final trail before you run out of road, this is easily the most difficult. Again, the length is only about a half mile, but the bulk of it is over very loose sand. This is very tough hiking as a result. Also, there is almost no shade, so on a sunny day, this probably is...
PinkFloydActuary Says: There are three small trails at Assateague, each equipped to give you a flavor for the types of environments in the area. None are particularly well marked, so keep an eye on the map, and you'll be able to figure out where to stop. The second trail after the entrance is the...
tpangelinan Says: Try your hand at live clamming, the best method seem to be raking. The water in the bay is rather shallow so wading is no issue. There are a few types of wild oysters that can be found around Assateague. Careful you do not trespass on leased oyster bed, it's best to stop at...
tpangelinan Says: If you go down Bayside Dr. to the end, on the right side there is a canoe rental place. There is a lot of area to cover, with many small island to stop on, plenty of nature to photo! You can touch the bottom at all most any point in the bay, so no worry is you tip the boat...
tpangelinan Says: Looking for some thing to do here, go find a nature trail, there are several. Go down the main road to the Natioal Seashore entrance and you'll find the Shipwreck history, forest trail, marsh trail, and the dunes life trail. All of these trails have parking right there and...
grandmaR Says: The one time I went to Assateague Island was in 1956 and we had to take a ferry. This ferry is apparently no longer there. Information on the web includes this tidbit. A ferry crossed Sinepuxent Bay to Assateague Island from the southern end of the county highway that...
tpangelinan Says: You can take your 4X4 on the beach, but follow the strick regulations or you will be fined. The fee for a 4X4 beach permit is about $70.00 and is required here all year round. They do provide air lines for you to fill your tires back up after you are done. You can go...
Helpfulness
This one is one that didn't get cover by the moving sand, some times during a storm a wreck gets uncovered and covered again by the sand movement. The amount of shipwrecks off the island is unknown to this day, the waters were ruff and uncharted with little navigational help. Many of these wrecks were cargo ships which the colonist salvaged the goods and sold, which was stealing so Maryland and Virginia got together and hired a wreck-master to oversee the salavages from the late 1700's on to prevent the thefts. Between 1875 & 1915 the 4 U.S. Life-Saving Stations helped in 261 salvages, the total amount of wrecks off the coast is not truely known nor is much known about the wrecks either, origin & cargo.
Written May 25, 2004
PinkFloydActuary Says: A lot of people that have seen horses over their lifetime think that they are gentle animals, so therefore, no problem approaching these guys, right? Well, the gruesome pamphlet you get as you enter the park will put that to rest (showing a number of bites on people.)...
tpangelinan Says: While on the beach watch out for piles like this. You will see and smell horse bisques when on the beach so just be aware. It's not like they clean up after themselves. So be careful where you park your beach blanket.
Helpfulness
We took a cruise tour to Assateague Island, very nice ride over as the captain and his mate tell you some historty about the ponies/horses and the island. The cruise goes around in the Sinepuxent Bay and then lands the boat on the island so you can walk around a little bit. The cruise takes about an hour and a half, during that time you will see ponies running long the beach and up in the dunes, there are about 300 ponies total on the island. The tour was worth the time and lots of fun for the kids.
Updated Apr 4, 2011
Phone: 410-289-3500
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Every time we are here there are good waves and plenty of surfers, so feel free to grab your board and catch a wave. Just an other way to have fun here on the island.
Written May 25, 2004
phastphreddy Says: Here's what you do if you visit the national seashore a lot. Buy the season pass. Do this even if you already have a season pass for the entire park system; it's worth the twenty bucks. The park entrance has two lanes, one for people who have the parks season pass and one...
tpangelinan Says: You should go to the Park Ranger's Station for any information you may need or help. We rode our bikes from South Beach up to North Beach, this is not a quick trip, now I locked up the bikes so we could go walk on the beach and look at the horses, but as soon as I locked the...
tpangelinan Says: Hiking is a big thing here so grab your backpack and walk till you drop. There are miles of places to hike around here, dunes, woods, beach, just name it you can hike it here.
tpangelinan Says: The entrance fee for assateague State park is $2.00 a day per person, this fee is only good for the State Park which is beach access, bath house, parking lotand snack bar. Maryland owns 680 acres of the island which is all state park. This beach does have lifeguards from...
Assateague Island is a wonderful place to explore, fishing, crabbing, clamming, camp on the dunes, hiking, great bird watching and the wild ponies are all over. This island is part of 2 states,...
Our time outdoors on the June 2010 trip was spent at several of our Seashores and Lakeshores. The first stop was Assateague. We were hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the wild horses, and they did...
After my freshman year in college, my little sister (2 years younger)...
There are plenty of warning signs. The ponies of Assateague are wild animals; they kick, bite, and can be generally unfriendly. You shouldn't get too close, and you shouldn't try and pet them. Enjoy...
A special place in the hearts of many readers.
Like most other 11 year old girls I knew, I was obsesed with horses and Marguerite Henry's novel of "Misty of Chincoteague" was one of my favorites. April is a little chilly for ocean bathing but no...
Build your own Assateague Island page
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