Where the Delaware Bay ends and the Atlantic begins, 5,000 acres of dunes are hiding WWII bunkers

It’s older than the United States itself

Cape Henlopen sits at the very tip of Delaware, where the Delaware Bay stops being a bay and becomes the Atlantic Ocean.

The park covers more than 5,000 acres of beach, maritime forest, salt marsh, and dunes big enough to swallow buildings.

William Penn set this land aside for the public in 1682, which makes it one of the oldest public lands in the country. There’s a lot packed into this place, and most of it you won’t see from the parking lot.

Where the bay and ocean trade places

The park runs along two completely different shorelines. The ocean side has rolling surf and a wide beach.

The bay side is calmer, with shallower water and views across to New Jersey. Both have their own feel, and you’ll want time on each.

The cape also marks the eastern end of the American Discovery Trail, the only coast-to-coast hiking trail in the country.

If you’re the type who likes knowing you’re standing somewhere that means something, this is that kind of place.

Three centuries of military history buried in the sand

The cape spent most of American history as a military post. The Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and both World Wars.

Each time the country faced a threat from the sea, soldiers came here to watch for it. During World War II, the Army built Fort Miles to defend the Delaware Bay from German U-boats.

The Department of Defense held onto the land until 1964, when Delaware took it over and opened it as a state park. The bunkers stayed.

Fort Miles Museum sits inside a real WWII gun battery

Battery 519 went underground in 1941, and today you can walk through it.

The Fort Miles Museum is housed inside the restored battery, and guided tours take you in to see how the soldiers lived and worked.

Out in the Artillery Park, a 16-inch gun barrel from the USS Missouri sits in the open air. That’s the battleship where Japan signed the surrender documents in 1945.

Several concrete fire control towers still stand among the dunes and are open to walk through on your own.

Climb 100 steps for a view across two states

One of the WWII fire control towers is fully restored and free to climb.

At the top, you get a 360-degree look at the Atlantic, the Delaware Bay, the dunes below, and the coastline running south toward Rehoboth Beach.

On a clear day, you can pick out Cape May, New Jersey, across the water.

During the war, soldiers used towers like this one to calculate where to aim the large guns hidden in the dunes. The climb takes more than 100 steps, and the view at the top earns every one of them.

The dune that used to walk across the landscape

The Great Dune rises about 80 feet and is the tallest sand formation on this stretch of coast. Before the Army arrived, it moved so steadily inland that people called it the Galloping Dune.

During WWII, soldiers piled on more sand to hide a bunker underneath, then planted grass and trees to anchor it in place.

The Walking Dunes Trail loops about 2.5 miles through the dune field, maritime forest, and salt marsh.

The landscape shifts so much from section to section that you’d swear you crossed a state line somewhere in the middle.

The trail that walks you right into Rehoboth Beach

The Gordons Pond Trail runs 3.2 miles one way from the park down to the edge of Rehoboth Beach.

Part of it rides an elevated boardwalk over the salt marshes, and the views out over the wetlands and dunes stretch wide in both directions.

The trail is paved and flat, so it works for walkers, runners, and cyclists alike, and for people who need a more accessible route. At the far end, the trail connects straight onto the Rehoboth Boardwalk.

You can park at the park and walk to a beach town without touching a car.

Borrow a free bike and cover the whole park

The park has more than seven miles of marked paved paths, plus dirt and sand trails through the dunes.

The 3-mile Bike Loop links the beach, the observation tower, and Fort Miles, so it’s a good way to cover the main attractions without a lot of backtracking.

The Seaside Nature Center loans bikes for free through the Friends of Cape Henlopen program, with adult bikes, kids’ bikes, trailers, and helmets.

If you want more mileage, the Junction and Breakwater Trail outside the park adds nearly six more miles.

One of the biggest horseshoe crab events on the East Coast

Each spring, from May through June, horseshoe crabs crawl out of the Delaware Bay to lay their eggs on the beaches.

The bay is one of the largest spawning grounds in the world, with the peak happening around full and new moon high tides. The crabs bring company.

Red knots and sandpipers arrive by the thousands to feed on the eggs before continuing north. The park sometimes runs guided evening programs during spawning season so you can watch it up close after dark.

Touch a horseshoe crab at the Seaside Nature Center

The Seaside Nature Center is a good first stop, especially if you’re bringing kids. There’s a touch tank where you can handle horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, and other creatures from the bay.

Five exhibit tanks, each holding 1,000 gallons, show the different fish species and habitats found in the park. From April through August, a live osprey camera lets you watch a nesting pair in real time.

The center also runs the free bike-borrowing program and hosts educational programs throughout the season.

The fishing pier never closes

Two swimming beaches open on Memorial Day weekend and stay staffed with lifeguards through Labor Day. The northern beach has a bathhouse with showers, changing rooms, and a food stand.

The fishing pier juts into the Delaware Bay and stays open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Flounder, bluefish, and striped bass move through depending on the season.

If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, you can get a permit to drive onto the ocean beach for surf fishing. Kayaks, paddleboards, and crabbing gear all have a place along the bay shoreline too.

September brings raptors and dolphins off the point

Cape Henlopen is home to piping plovers, least terns, and black skimmers, all of them endangered.

The Hawk Watch platform runs from September through November, staffed by volunteers counting migrating raptors as they move south.

From the platform and other high points, you can often spot dolphins, most reliably in the morning and at dusk.

The Point, where the bay and ocean meet, is the best birding spot in the park but closes March 1 to protect nesting birds. The ocean beach reopens Sept. 1, and the bayside beach follows Oct. 1.

Sleep in the dunes and wake up near the water

The campground sits in the pine-covered dunes a short walk from the beach and stays open all year. There are more than 150 sites, many with water and electric hookups, and pull-through spots for RVs.

Twelve cabins sleep up to six people each, with real beds, electricity, and a screened-in porch. A camp store, laundry facility, and playground fill out the amenities.

There’s also an 18-hole disc golf course and basketball courts near the campground, so you don’t have to walk far to find something to do on a rest day.

Visit Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware

Cape Henlopen State Park sits at 15099 Cape Henlopen Drive in Lewes, Delaware, about 11 miles north of Rehoboth Beach.

The park opens daily at 8 a.m. and closes at sunset year-round, with seasonal hours for the Seaside Nature Center and Fort Miles Museum. You can reach it from Route 1 via Route 9.

If you want to extend the trip, the Cape May-Lewes Ferry connects Lewes to Cape May, New Jersey, so you can explore both sides of the bay on the same visit.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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