Cape Henlopen State Park
Cape Henlopen State Park Map
Cape Henlopen State Park is more than 5,000 acres — the largest state park in Delaware — and it does not have one center. Knowing roughly how it is arranged before you arrive saves a lot of driving back and forth.
For the official park map, with every facility and parking area marked, download the PDF from Delaware State Parks.
The shape of it
Think of the park as a hook. The main entrance is on Cape Henlopen Drive at the eastern edge of Lewes, and the road runs out along the inside of the hook past the fishing pier toward the tip.
- Bay side, on the way in: the fishing pier, the Seaside Nature Center, and the bay beaches. This is the sheltered water.
- The tip: The Point, where bay meets ocean. Closed for much of the nesting and migration season.
- Ocean side, running south: the guarded swimming beach, the Great Dune behind it, Herring Point, and then Deauville Beach at the far southern end near Rehoboth.
- Inland: Fort Miles, the campground, the pine woods and the disc golf course.
- Southern end: Gordons Pond and its trailhead.
Trail distances
| Bike Loop | 3.3 miles |
|---|---|
| Gordons Pond Trail | 3.2 miles |
| Walking Dunes Trail | 2.6 miles |
| Pinelands Nature Trail | 1.5 miles |
| Seaside Nature Trail | 0.7 miles |
| Junction and Breakwater Trail | 5.8 miles (outside the park, Lewes to Rehoboth) |
Two things worth knowing about the ground itself
It has been public land for a very long time. William Penn set the cape aside in 1682 for the usage of the citizens of Lewes and Sussex County, as part of the Warner Grant. It did not become a state park until 1964, when the land came back to Delaware after the army finished with it — but the idea that this headland belongs to everybody is nearly three and a half centuries old.
It is the end of a very long walk. Cape Henlopen is the eastern terminus of the American Discovery Trail, which runs coast to coast. If you meet somebody at The Point looking unreasonably pleased with themselves, that may be why.
Getting here
The entrance is at the eastern end of Lewes, on Cape Henlopen Drive. The Cape May–Lewes Ferry terminal is on the same road, so if you arrive by boat from New Jersey the park is essentially next door.
Downtown Lewes is about two and a half miles from the terminal — further than it sounds, and not a comfortable walk with luggage.