PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
Talia Herbert of Saugus, Bella Miller of Stoneham and Shaylin Groark of Saugus, from left, cool off at Long Beach in Nahant.
Editor’s note: The Daily Item throughout the summer will run a list of activities, events and just plain fun activities available in Lynn and surrounding communities. Today’s feature focuses on local beaches. Enjoy!
Crane Beach, Ipswich
Crane Beach, part of Crane Wildlife refuge in Ipswich, is a white beach that stretches for miles. Lifeguards and rangers, bike rack, bathhouses (with toilets and changing area), outside showers, picnic tables, Crane Beach Store (refreshments and merchandise: view the snack bar menu), drinking water fountains (located outside the bathhouses), information kiosk, transportation for mobility-impaired and challenged visitors. Parking and other fees: $30 weekends and holidays; $25 for weekdays (half price after 3 p.m.) for non-members. Lifeguard on duty: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Bathhouses are open: 8 a.m. to sunset.
Directions: from Route 128 north exit 20A, take Route 1A North for eight miles to Ipswich. Turn right onto Route 133 East and follow for 1.5 miles. Turn left onto Northgate Road and follow for 0.5 miles. Turn right onto Argilla Road and follow for 2.5 miles to entrance and parking (1,300 cars) at end of road.
Cressy’s Beach, Gloucester
Located at the lower end of Historic Stage Fort Park, this rocky beach overlooks the beautiful Gloucester Harbor. This is a great place to spend the day as you can sit and observe the activities on the harbor, have a picnic or cookout, play games in the park, or just relax with a good book. Restrooms are located nearby in the park and there is a privately owned restaurant that is open to the public. Parking is available in the parking lot at a rate of $10 per vehicle weekdays and $15 weekends and holidays. Alcohol is prohibited in all areas of the park and beach.
Directions: Take exit 14 off Route 128 North. At the bottom of the ramp, bear right onto Route 133. Follow to the end with the harbor in front of you. Take a right onto Western Avenue and then a left into Stage Fort Park.
Dane Street Beach, Beverly
Public park and beach on Lothrop Street (Route 127), features seven acres of grass, picnic tables and benches with playground equipment and a sandy beachfront. Parking lot and on-street parking is free. No alcohol or fires allowed. No lifeguard on duty.
Dead Horse Beach, Salem
Dead Horse Beach, Salem, Memorial Drive, Salem, just before Salem Willows. Ample free street and lot parking and plenty of sandy public beach facing northwest. Closes at 9 p.m. in the summer. No lifeguard on duty.
Devereaux Beach, Marblehead
100 Ocean Ave., Marblehead. Parking fees (during summer school vacation) Monday-Thursday $10, Friday-Sunday $15, collected 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lifeguards on duty: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Restrooms are open and lifeguards/beach staff are on duty when parking fees are being collected unless otherwise posted.
Fisherman’s Beach, Swampscott
On Humphrey Street and Greenwood Avenue, Fisherman’s Beach is home to the historic 1890s Fish House, still in operation. The public beach features a pier and beach popular with boaters and base of a town sailing program. There are no lifeguards on duty. There is free on-street parking.
Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester
Parking and other fees: $30 weekends and holidays, $25 weekdays. Space is limited so you will need to arrive early on a nice day in order to get a parking space. The gates open at 8 a.m. and are locked at 9 p.m. Lifeguard on duty: lifeguards are on duty Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Hours of bathhouse: restrooms and showers are available as well from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. During periods of inclement weather, all facilities may close early.
Directions: Take Route 128 north into Gloucester. Follow the signs for East Gloucester/Rockport. Go through the two rotaries. At the first traffic light you have two options. First option is to take a left onto Eastern Avenue. Follow Eastern Avenue for approximately 1 to 1½ miles and Shaw’s Plaza will be on your right. Turn right onto Barn Lane at the end of the plaza. At the end of Barn Lane turn left onto Thatcher Road and the beach lot will be on your right. If you go straight through the first light, you will then take a left onto Bass Avenue at the next light. Follow Bass Avenue to Thatcher Road and turn left onto Thatcher Road. The parking lot will be up on your right.
Half Moon Beach, Gloucester
A small beach located in historic Stage Fort Park, it gets its name from the crescent shape of the beach. Lifeguards are on duty Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Restrooms are located nearby at the Visitors Center and there are plenty of areas to enjoy a picnic or cookout. Parking is available in the parking lot for $10 per vehicle weekdays and $15 weekends and holidays. Alcohol, flotation devices and inflatable objects are prohibited. The beach is handicapped accessible with a concrete ramp leading down to the beach area.
Directions: Take exit 14 off Route 128 north. At the bottom of the ramp, bear right onto Route 133. Follow to the end with the harbor in front of you. Take a right onto Western Avenue and then a left into Stage Fort Park.
Lynn Shore and Nahant Beach Reservation
Open year round, dawn to dusk. Boat ramps provide public access to Lynn Harbor. Public swimming at Long Beach and King’s Beach. Parking $3 at Long Beach, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., May–September. Parking for Nahant Beach is $5 per day. Parking passes are available at the Nahant Beach entrance from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. An expansive seascape can be viewed from over four miles of waterfront that is managed under public ownership. A promenade extends along the two-mile length of the two reservations at the edge of Nahant Bay and is available year round for activities such as walking, jogging and bicycling. Vast areas of hard-packed sand are exposed at low tide which can be accessed at King’s Beach and Long Beach on Nahant Bay as well as near the boat launching area on Lynn Harbor. Other interesting natural features include a mile-long system of fragile sand dunes parallel to Long Beach, and tide pools at Red Rock Park that are often filled with colorful marine plants and animals.
Parker River National Wildlife Preserve, Newburyport
The scenic area on Plum Island (accessible through Newburyport) includes several beaches, walking trails ideal for bird and wildlife watching, and spots for kayaking. Many of the beaches are closed for part of the season to protect nesting piping plover birds. Cost of parking is $5 for car and $2 for bikes/pedestrians. An annual pass is $20.
Revere Beach Reservation
Revere Beach Boulevard, Revere, 781-289-3020. Open year round, dawn to dusk. Free street parking. Lifeguards are on duty from late June to early September. Revere Beach, the oldest public beach in America, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996. Today, this beach boasts miles of shoreline which welcomes throngs of visitors every summer. Along the boulevard there is a bandstand for summer concerts, a bathhouse, restaurants for food and drinks, and many shade shelters. Revere Beach is very accessible by public transportation, which makes it a popular spot for people from all around metro Boston.
Salem Willows Park/beach
Public park and beach since 1858, featuring an arcade with vintage pinball machines (open daily at 11 a.m.), an expansive park with 200-year-old white willow trees, an outdoor performing arts arena, a public fishing pier and sandy beach (no lifeguard on duty). In 1906 at Salem Willows, Everett Hobbs & William Eaton offered Americans the first ice-cream cone and “Blind Pat” Kenneally introduced Spanish “double-jointed” peanuts to America from his cart at the Willows. This is a place for family activities and offers a whole street of food and drink concessions.
Salisbury Beach State Reservation
Beach road, (Route 1A), Salisbury. Salisbury Beach is one of the state’s most popular public beaches, stretching 3.8 miles. This 521-acre park offers swimming, boating, fishing and camping, and is very popular with trailer campers. Facilities include a 484-site campground with renovated bathhouses, an extensive day-use parking lot, three comfort stations for the beach-going public with boardwalks over the dunes, and a new playground and pavilion area. The facility also has two boat ramps on the Merrimack River at the campground’s southern edge. Daily parking is $14 for state vehicles. There is a $2 per night surcharge for camping fees at Salisbury Beach. For day-use customers, the $2 surcharge will be added to the day-use fee for individual cars and buses.
Singing Beach, Manchester-by-The-Sea
Non-residents may park in the Singing Beach Parking lot on Mondays–Fridays only (not holiday weekends), for a fee of $25 per day if space is available. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, parking is limited strictly to Manchester residents with a valid beach parking sticker. Daily beach walk-on fee is $5 (free for senior citizens and children under 12). The Singing Beach Bathhouse is currently open only on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Labor Day. The facility will be staffed seven days per week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and lifeguards will be On duty daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Directions: By Car: from the south (from Route 95/Peabody/Boston): take Route 95/128 North. Stay on Route 128, and take Exit 16 (Pine Street/Manchester exit). Take a left at the end of the ramp. Follow to the end. Take a left onto Route 127. You will enter downtown less than ¼ mile from there- Follow until you come to an intersection of a gas station, Crosby’s Market and the Post Office. At this point Route 127 takes a sharp left turn — do not follow Route 127 any further. Continue straight over the railroad tracks onto Beach Street. Follow Beach Street ½ a mile to the end.
Wingaersheek Beach, Gloucester
Wingaersheek’s rock formations create small pools perfect for little ones. Parking and other fees: $25 weekends and holidays, $20 weekdays. If the “lot full” sign is out it means the lot is closed to non-residents and only those with a Gloucester Beach sticker can gain access to the lot. Alcohol is prohibited. Food, drinks and beach toys are available at the concession. Lifeguards on duty: Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Bathhouses are open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Directions: Take Route 128 north to exit 13. At the bottom of the ramp, take a left onto Concord Street and follow for about one to 1 ½ miles. You will see a traffic island with a sign saying Wingaersheek Beach.