A Perfect Four-Mile Walk: Cape Henry Beach
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 by Katherine Jackson
On a sunny Saturday 
in February, I took a walk on Cape Henry Beach, which is adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay. It’s not a beach I often walk on, and it turned out to be a treat. The sun had coaxed the temperature into the upper fifties, the sky was a cloudless blue, and the air was so clear, I felt as if I could wave to my friends who live across the bay on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. I started my walk via the beach access at the end of West Great Neck Road, and I headed east toward Cape Henry, where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Initially, houses and condos line the beach, but farther along, I passed into First Landing State Park where only sand dunes abut the beach. The warm weather brought out lots of beachwalkers, photographers, dog walkers and a few bird watchers with binoculars. I saw one toddler in a pink sunhat who might have been taking her first beach walk. One man was digging for treasure with a metal detector, and a few people carried buckets for shells. Out on the water, fishing boats skimmed the surface and large cargo ships awaited their turn in port. Flocks of seabirds landed on the beach to look for lunch. All told, I covered 3.92 miles. I know this because I carried my iPod, which has a built-in pedometer and an FM radio. The local public radio station was playing lots of new music, and the reception was outstanding on this clear day. Cape Henry Beach is relatively flat, but it’s a good idea to check a tide chart when planning a walk. Parking is available on some residential streets in this area, including West Great Neck Road. You also can start and finish a walk on this beach via the parking lot at the First Landing State Park Bay Center, where you will pay a small parking fee. I recommend that you take this beach walk in the late afternoon while the sun sets over the bay and turns the sky a hundred shades of yellow, orange, purple and red.
Tags: Beach walks, Cape Henry Beach, First Landing State Park, free things to do in Virginia Beach, walking in Virginia Beach
