VA - Swan Cove Trail
in Maryland · centroid 80 mi from Virginia Beach
The Swan Cove Trail, which branches off from the Wildlife Loop has become an increasingly popular trail out to the beach. Many people have referred to this area as the “bike beach”. The ½ mile trail is accessible by bicycle and foot and leads you from the Wildlife Loop out to a beach area about a mile north of the public parking beach access areas.
This is a great trail to take out to catch the morning sunrise over the ocean. Please note, this area of the beach is not lifeguarded.
- States
- Maryland
- Trail type
- National Seashore trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Virginia Beach, VA · 80 mi · ~2.3 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 37.9011°, -75.3388°
About Assateague Island National Seashore
This trail is inside Assateague Island National Seashore, a national seashore managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $25 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/va-swan-cove-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/asis/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked VA - Swan Cove Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.