Crashing waves on a stretch of wild Atlantic coastline, miles of beautiful hiking trails, and affordable camping and cabins near the beach.
Welcome to Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware, the perfect stretch of sand for your next ocean getaway!
This gem of a park encompasses 5,193 acres in Sussex County, and according to the Delaware State Parks website, Cape Henlopen Beaches are some of the most popular in the state.
What makes Cape Henlopen State Park so awesome, though, is that there is way more to do than swim in the ocean or lie on the sand.
Hiking, biking, fishing, disc golf, and kayaking are all easy ways to relax at Cape Henlopen. You could spend a week here and not run out of amazing things to do!
The best way to explore Cape Henlopen State Park is to pitch your tent or rent one of the camping cabins in the campground. We recommend spending a long weekend or three to four days during the week to make the most out of this special place.
Quick Facts: Cape Henlopen State Park
Address: 15099 Cape Henlopen Drive
Lewes, DE 19958Activities: swimming, hiking, paddle sports, camping
Open: Year-round
Fees: $5 in-state car, $10 out-of-state car
Dogs: Yes, on leash with some restrictions
Camping: There are year-round RV sites with full-hook-ups, and walk-in tent sites ranging from $30 to $50 a night. Camping cabins range from $70 to $130 a night.
Activities: Swimming, camping, biking, fishing, surfing, birdwatching
Directions to Cape Henlopen State Park
Official Park website
Why You’ll Love Cape Henlopen State Park Camping
Plenty of people come to Cape Henlopen to enjoy the beaches during the day, but to really make the most of the park, you have to stay a few days!
The Cape Henlopen campground area is divided into three sections.
There’s the RV area, which is most of the campground. You’ll also find a loop just for tenters and a row of cute cabins. We opted for a tent site, thinking it would be more peaceful, but the park doesn’t allow generators, and quiet time is strictly enforced after 10 pm, so even the RV loop was really quiet.
The Cape Henlopen campsites are flat and sandy with a good mix of shady and sunny sites, but they are packed pretty tightly together and offer very little in the way of privacy.
During our last Cape Henlopen camping trip, we scored a centrally-located site with lots of bushes for privacy. It was perfect!
The campground restrooms are clean and spacious, with hot showers (cold showers are better than air conditioning in your tent).
Because Cape Henlopen State Park is a popular place, we recommend reserving your site well ahead of time. You can book your site on Reserve America.
Cape Henlopen State Park Cabins
The cabins at Cape Henlopen State Park are really cute and perfect if you have a small family and don’t want to deal with sandy sleeping bags and leaky tents (believe me, I was tempted).
Although the cabins sleep 6, it’s a tight squeeze, with two sets of bunk beds in the back room, and a queen sofa bed in the front room.
The cabins do have air conditioning, electricity, and a small fridge, which is awesome, but you still have to do your cooking outside.
In my opinion, the Cape Henlopen Cabins are the perfect solution for families who love playing outside, but not necessarily sleeping outside. Those bugs are ruthless, let me tell you!
The other awesome thing is that the Cape Henlopen cabins are open year-round, and if you are like me, and don’t need to actually sunbathe or swim in the ocean, then a fall visit may be just your thing.
Please note that pets are not allowed in any of the Cape Henlopen cabins.
Cape Henlopen Beach
By the time we had lunch, fended off a million biting insects, and changed into swimwear, the temperature had soared to 104 degrees.
Time to chill out in the Atlantic.
The park is big enough that you have to drive from your campsite to the beach. Okay, you don’t actually have to, but if you’re a northerner suffering through a sweltering summer day, take the car and don’t feel guilty.
So, Cape Henlopen Beach is pretty much perfect and definitely one of my all-time favorite East Coast beaches.
It can be busy right by the concession and shower area, with good lifeguard coverage (available from Memorial Day to Labor Day), but the expansive strip of sand quickly fades into serenity as you walk either north or south along the shore.
The water was blissfully cold at the end of June, a good 10 degrees colder than the same ocean three hours south in Virginia Beach.
At Cape Henlopen State Park, there’s a special surfing beach, a beach just for fishing, and a lovely bayside beach with quiet water for families with littles.
Dogs are allowed on the beaches during the off-season but not during the summer when lifeguards are on duty.
With so much room to spread out, Cape Henlopen Beach never feels crowded, and the grass-covered dunes add a touch of wild to the rugged shore.
If you’ve never been to the beaches at Cape Henlopen State Park, this is your call to action!
Cape Henlopen State Park Hiking Trails
While the temps were too sweltering to do much hiking, we did get in some early morning trail time while we were visiting. Here is a run-down of some of the awesome trails in Cape Henlopen State Park.
Walking Dunes Trail. We meandered along the Walking Dunes Trail, hoping to catch the sunrise over the East Coast. The clouds thwarted our plans, but the trail didn’t disappoint.
The huge diversity of birds made quite a ruckus in the tidal marsh and we didn’t see a single human for more than two hours. This is an easy hike — through dunes, woods, and a bit of pavement. The only downside is the limited shade and a bit of poison ivy.
Bike Loop. Did I tell you that bike rentals are free at Cape Henlopen State Park? The trails, the roads, and even the nearby town of Lewes are all very bike-friendly.
It’s a great way to explore this huge park, and there’s nothing like letting the waves wash your sweat away after a grueling ride from the campground to the sea.
The bike loop trail is an awesome way to get around the park. You can stop off at the nature center, the Cape Henlopen fishing pier, the kayak rental shop, and the observation tower. The trail itself is flat and paved, perfect for seasoned riders and training wheels alike.
Pinelands Nature Trail. Thanks to a raging storm, we didn’t have time to check out this trail, but all the park rangers recommended it to us. It’s a two-mile path through the woods, where you’ll get a glimpse of the old military bunkers and a cranberry bog without even breaking a sweat. Please let us know about your hike if you decide to give it a go.
More Fun at Cape Henlopen State Park
As if the crashing waves, meandering trails, and absolute beauty weren’t enough, there’s even more to Cape Henlopen State Park. If you’re a family that needs options, here are a few more ways to while away the day.
- Climb the observation tower. Part of Fort Miles, the tower sits right on the bike loop. It offers 360-degree views of the surrounding park and is a great spot to watch the sun come up.
- Visit the bunkers at Fort Miles. Fort Miles was a key piece of our nation’s coastal defense during World War II. The fort was in operation until 1958, when long-range missiles brought an end to harbor defense strategies. You can get a guided tour of the fort Monday through Friday from 8 to 4.
- Rent kayaks. Tour the bay on your own, or take part in a seriously fabulous guided tour. The park rangers and naturalists know so much and they love to share their knowledge with visitors. You’ll learn about the birds, fish, and mammals that live here, plus you’ll experience the park from a whole new perspective. The sunset tour promised to be amazing when we were there, but a giant storm kept everyone out of the water. Now we have an excuse to go back.
- Watch the sunrise. Nothing like a sweet Atlantic sunrise to make the rest of your day fabulous.
- Watch the sunset. Over the bay, as the tide goes out, you’ll likely spot dolphins frolicking, pelicans fishing, and awesome people enjoying the world just as much as you are.
- Check out the Nature Center. It’s a mini-aquarium, complete with a touch tank, local fish, and lots of cool info about this special ecosystem.
- Play disc golf. 18 ‘holes’ of Frisbee fun. I’m having trouble learning the sport, but the courses seem to be popping up in parks and campgrounds everywhere, so I’m giving it a go.
- Fish of the Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier. Word on the street is that the fishing pier has some of the best saltwater fishing on the East Coast. I’m not an angler, so you’ll have to be the judge, but the pier was super busy when we visited.
Cape Henlopen is a huge park on the Atlantic Ocean that kept us captivated from the moment we arrived.
If you like a side of rugged and wild with your beach vacation, you won’t be disappointed. You’ve got a sweet little beach town nearby with shopping and dining if that’s your thing; the beach is as lovely as any on the Atlantic Coast, and there’s plenty of room to spread out and explore.
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Tara Schatz is a freelance writer and travel blogger with a passion for outdoor adventures. She is the co-author of AMC’s Best Day Hikes in Vermont and currently blogs at Back Road Ramblers and Vermont Explored, where she shares travel tips, adventure destinations, and vacation ideas for the wanderer in everyone.