Silver Sands State Park

BIG FAT SHOWSTOPPING WARNING:  The hike documented on this page is NOT open to the public from May 1 – August 31, so that herons and egrets can nest in peace.  (If the island’s a-squawkin’, you can’t come a-walkin’.)  These dates shifted slightly from 2016 to 2017 (which is why they don’t match the photo below) so you may want to verify them on the official Silver Sands DEEP page before you go).

UPDATE September 2018: In 2018, the closure dates were indeed May 1 – August 31 again.  There, I just saved you a click!  Unless you did it already.

There’s still plenty of nice, beachy stuff to see here all year, but if you want to visit the main event, be sure to check your calendar first.

**UPDATE July 2017** Spurred by a discussion on this site’s Facebook page, I called the Silver Sands park office for clarification on the rules when the island is closed.  According to the very helpful person I talked to, everything below the high tide line is fair game year-round, which includes the walkway out to the island, since it completely disappears underwater at high (and medium) tide.  It’s slippery, dangerous, and gross to attempt circumnavigating the island below the tide line, so they strongly recommend that you do not attempt to do so.  But you could walk out to the island and come back without causing yourself – or the herons – any grief.

ONE MORE BIG FAT SHOWSTOPPING WARNING: You can only do this hike if you begin just before low tide, so that you have time to walk around the island and get back to the mainland before the walkway disappears (the tide comes in fast and the current can apparently be quite strong).  If you attempt to just stroll out there without checking the tide charts first, be sure to pack a volleyball so that you’ll have someone to talk to while you’re stranded on the island.  (We showed up about 90 minutes prior to low tide, and that seemed about right.)

**UPDATE August 2017**  The person on the phone at the park also said that some days, even at low tide, the walkway never fully materializes (Julie Kwon Jee’s helpful Facebook post validated this comment).  You can maximize your chances by checking the tide charts and visiting on a day with lower low tides, but getting to stroll all the way to the island will still not be a given.  Like my kid’s kindergarten teacher always said: You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.  (Advice that is applicable to many areas of life, including, but not limited to, stickers and tide amplitudes.)

There’s a very informative sheet posted at the trailhead with the title: “IF YOU REALLY REALLY NEED TO WALK TO CHARLES ISLAND…SAFETY TIPS.”  Please click this image for a blown-up version of that sheet, and read it carefully to make sure your visit to Silver Sands is memorable for the right reasons.

Potential cheapskate alert: As of this writing in October 2016, parking at Silver Sands is plentiful and free (though it likely fills up on nice weekends).  There is some serious discussion about ending the whole “free” thing, though, so prepare yourself for that eventuality.

Pooch proclivity: Pets are prohibited on the beach and boardwalk, even if they have awesome personalities. Harumph.  (Pets kept on a leash are permitted in the picnic areas.)

Background you can feel free to skip: “I don’t even care that it’s not in the Hudson Valley.  I’m totally writing this one up,” I said to my wife after our first (but definitely not our last) visit to Silver Sands State Park in Milford, Connecticut.

“You definitely should,” she replied.

After spending a day exploring Silver Sands, which is closer to many places in the Hudson Valley than some of the most popular Catskill hikes, it’s difficult to understand how we’ve lived here for fifteen years without ever hearing anyone mention this place.  What gives, everybody?

We found this place because we didn’t make it to Cape Cod this year and wanted to smell some salt water before winter.  Silver Sands State Park makes a very respectable stand-in for the bay side of Cape Cod, with long stretches of flat mud/sand beach and shallow tidal pools.  As far as the kids were concerned, we might just as well have been at Cape Cod – they didn’t seem to notice the difference.  (And sorry for your temporary loss of freedom, hermit crabs.)

If you can nail the timing to take the walk around Charles Island, too, well, it’s hard to think of a better way to spend a day trip.

All that being said, don’t expect pristine conditions – this is a crowded place, and you will likely notice some litter left behind by some of your less considerate (and apparently hula-hooping?) fellow humans.

And the beach itself is not a white-sand-type situation – there are rocks and shells everywhere, in addition to stretches of very fine mud/sand.  In some spots, you’ll be walking exclusively on shells, which is pretty cool (and crunchy).  The walk around Charles Island is also very rocky.  Be sure to square your footwear situation accordingly – leave the flip-flops at home.

So while this place isn’t exactly in the Hudson Valley, it deserves a spot in your rotation of very cool locations within day-trip striking distance.  (And if Milford, CT, would like to be added as an honorary Hudson Valley location, we can offer New Paltz as a great honorary coastal destination in exchange.)

If you decide to give it a whirl, have a great trip!  But be sure to check the calendar and the tide charts before you go.

**UPDATE October 2018** Getting trapped on the sandbar during a rising tide can have tragic consequences.  I just stumbled upon this story of the death of a 28-year-old man here in 2017 who got swept away by the current.  Please, please, please, do not attempt this walk without being very aware of the tide schedule, and only attempt it if you are starting well before low tide.