Things to do nearAssateague Island

Assateague Island is a 37-mile barrier island shared between Maryland and Virginia, managed jointly by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its protected status has kept it largely free of the commercial development that defines much of the mid-Atlantic coast, preserving a landscape of rolling dunes, maritime forest, tidal flats, and open ocean beach that has changed little over centuries.

The island's wild ponies are its most celebrated feature. Descended from horses believed to have survived a colonial-era shipwreck or, more likely, placed on the island by mainland farmers to avoid livestock taxes, these small, sturdy animals have adapted fully to the coastal environment. On the Virginia side, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company holds an annual pony swim and auction each summer, a tradition dating back decades that draws large crowds to the region.

Beyond the ponies, Assateague Island offers some of the finest undeveloped beachgoing on the East Coast. Swimmers, surfers, and anglers share the shoreline across different stretches, while birders find the island especially rewarding during spring and fall migrations. Overnight visitors can camp on the beach or in the pine forest, falling asleep to the sound of waves and waking to the sight of ponies grazing nearby.

Few places along the Eastern Seaboard offer such a direct encounter with a coastal ecosystem still operating largely on its own terms, which is what makes Assateague Island worth the trip for anyone drawn to natural landscapes.