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Reader Survey Day: Which Is Your Favorite National Seashore?

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Published Date

March 2, 2016

Assateague Island National Seashore comes with terrestrial sea horses/NPS

While there are more national seashores (10) than national lakeshores (4), there still aren't a lot of them when you consider there are 410 units in the National Park System. That said, which is your favorite national seashore, and why?

Is it Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, where you can relax on the beach all day while your children fly a kite before you attend a Cape Cod League minor league baseball game in the charming confines of Veterans Field, home of the Chatham Anglers? Or do you prefer Cape Hatteras National Seashore or its neighbor, Cape Lookout National Seashore, both in North Carolina, in the fall when the stripers are running? 

Fire Island National Seashore claims the only official wilderness area in New York State/NPS

There's definitely something to say for the lack of crowds at Cumberland Island National Seashore off the Georgia Coast, and the thousands of sea turtles that come ashore on Canaveral National Seashore in Florida for nesting.

Some might view Gulf Islands National Seashore on the Mississippi and Florida coasts as too busy, what with the boating traffic and Jet skis, but it's rich in history and the white sand beaches idyllic. Padre Island National Seashore in Texas is prized by marine biologists for the Kemp's ridley sea turtles that head there to nest, while Point Reyes National Seashore in California has a rich diversity of wildlife -- in the sea, on the ground, winging by through the skies -- that brings folks back year after year.

Some spectacular sunsets can be viewed at Gulf Islands National Seashore/NPS

Not to be overlooked is Fire Island National Seashore, which offers the denizens of New York City a short commute to New York's only wilderness area, or Assateague Island National Seashore, which is shared by Virginia and Maryland and offers both oceanfront and bayfront landscapes, as well as terrestrial sea horses that have a loyal following of humans.

So, travelers, which is your favorite?

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Comments

Fire Island National Seashore


Grew up on Long Island and just love Fire Island, it needs all the protection it can get. I remember the summer we moved therre in 1961, we were not there long before there was a Hurricane and I had never heard of such a thing but I did hear about people losing their homes on the Island and how difficult it would be for them to even think of rebuilding when their space was gone along the beach. M dad told me that people were without their homes I could not imagine I was all of 6.

 


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