Cape Henlopen State Park
Fees, Hours and Parking
The short version: $10 a car if your plates are Delaware, $20 if they are not, charged only between 1 March and 30 November. The park is open 8 a.m. to sunset every day of the year. Walking or cycling in costs nothing at all.
What it costs in 2026
| Delaware-registered vehicle | $10 per day |
|---|---|
| Out-of-state vehicle | $20 per day |
| Annual pass, Delaware resident | $50 |
| Annual pass, out of state | $100 |
| Annual pass, 62 and over | $25 resident, $50 out of state |
| On foot or by bike | Free |
Cape Henlopen is charged at the ocean park rate, which is the higher of Delaware's two tiers. If you are visiting more than five times in a year as an out-of-state car, the annual pass has already paid for itself. New for 2026, some entrance points take mobile payment by QR code as well as cash and card.
The fee season is the thing most people miss. There is no entrance charge at all from 1 December to the end of February. A clear, cold day in January costs nothing and the car park is empty.
Opening hours
The park itself is open 8 a.m. until sunset, every day of the year. That is the gate, not the buildings, and it is worth knowing that sunset in December is a little after 4.30 p.m. while in June it is past 8.30.
The park office keeps shorter hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from 1 April to 31 October, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday only from 1 November to 31 March.
The Seaside Nature Center and the Fort Miles museum at Battery 519 both run their own seasonal schedules, and neither is open every day out of season. Check those pages before you plan a day around going inside either one.
Where to park
The park does not have one car park, it has several, and they serve completely different parts of it. Choosing the wrong one can mean a two-mile walk you did not intend.
| Main beach and bathhouse | The guarded swimming beach. The lot that fills first on a hot weekend. |
|---|---|
| The Point | The northern tip. Closed for much of the year for nesting birds — see below. |
| Herring Point | Southern end of the ocean shore, the overlook, and the northern end of the Gordons Pond Trail. |
| Gordons Pond | The Rehoboth end of the Gordons Pond Trail. Separate entrance off Route 1A. |
| Fort Miles and Battery 519 | The museum, the artillery park and the observation tower. |
| Seaside Nature Center | The nature centre, the free loan bikes and the bayside trails. |
| Fishing pier | Bayside, with the bait and tackle shop. |
On a July or August weekend the main beach lot can reach capacity by mid-morning and the park will hold cars at the gate until spaces free up. Arriving before 10 a.m. or after 3 p.m. avoids most of it. The Gordons Pond and Fort Miles lots almost never fill.
The Point is closed for part of every year
The northern tip of the cape is closed each spring and summer to protect nesting and migrating shorebirds — piping plovers, oystercatchers, least terns and red knots among them. This is not a formality; it is the reason those birds still breed here.
In 2026 The Point closed on 1 March. The oceanside beach reopens on Tuesday 1 September 2026. The bayside stays shut until Thursday 1 October 2026, for birds moving south for the winter. The dunes behind the fencing are off limits all year, always.
Surf-fishing reservations for the Point Crossing drive-on beach open in stages as the beach reopens. If The Point is the reason you are coming, check the current status before you set out.
Lifeguards
The guarded beach is staffed from Memorial Day Saturday to Labor Day Monday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Outside those dates and hours the ocean here is unwatched. The surf at Herring Point is the roughest stretch in the park and is not a guarded beach.
Also worth knowing before you come
- Dogs are banned from the swimming beaches from 1 May to 30 September, and must be on a lead no longer than six feet everywhere else.
- Beach wheelchairs are free, and all-terrain track chairs can be booked at no charge with two days' notice.
- Outside firewood is no longer permitted in Delaware State Park campgrounds. Buy it on site.
- The trails are free to use and several of them start outside the fee area.
Where these numbers come from. Fees, hours and dates on this page are taken from Delaware State Parks' own published schedules and DNREC news releases, checked on 28 August 2026. Fees change between seasons and closures change at short notice, so confirm with Delaware State Parks before you travel.