America's Most Beautiful Coastal Walks

An interconnected latticework of unmarked coastal pathways sounds like a place to get lost and frustrated. But islanders lavish praise upon “the maze” on Block Island’s Clayhead Trail. Follow the footpath down to the beach for a view over Block Island Sound, then retreat higher up to the bluffs for the same coastal view, only prettier; between the two you’ll spy nesting shorebirds in the wetlands.

Challenge Level: Easy.

Essential Gear: Take a wide-brimmed sailor’s hat, add a breathable crown, and you’ve got a product that will make you look like a local without sweating like one. (Tilley; $76.)

This barrier island feels like an open-air museum of robber baron mansions backed by windswept ocean views. Accessible only by ferry, Cumberland limits overnight tourists to maintain its pristine wilderness (wild horses roam freely). The Dungeness Trail is an easy walk from the ferry landing, followed by a gentle two-mile coast walk that takes you past the ruins of a Carnegie mansion built on the site of Nathanael Greene’s hunting lodge, a historic cemetery dripping with Spanish moss, and an Indian midden.

Challenge Level: Easy.

Essential Gear: A light daypack that includes a safety whistle built into the chest strap. Lifeguards use whistles for shore emergencies; so should you. (Granite Gear; $55.)

The cliffside trail along Kauai’s northern shore is on the life list of most long-distance hikers and rewards them with views of steep jungle valleys and treks along the faces of sheer sea cliffs toward untouched Pacific beaches. The walk is best enjoyed slowly, especially in winter months when humpback whales breach in the surf below. Round-trip, it's a 22-mile outing; sightseeing helicopters overhead can make the return trip in little under an hour.

Challenge Level: Medium.

Essential Gear: Thar she blows! Oh, you missed it? These digital binoculars have instant replay. (Bushnell; $399.)

Part rocky scramble, part beach walk, complete with moody ocean views and mountain vistas, the coastal trail in Olympic National Park is world class. At low tide, deep water animals such as bright red sunflower starfish, anemones, and multicolored sea slugs will keep you company as they are revealed on rocks in tide pools. You’ll want to choose different paths depending on time and tide, so be sure your trail maps and tide tables are current.

Challenge Level: Strenuous.

Essential Gear: Staring into tide pools gets muddy quick, so strap a set of gaiters over your running shoes or hiking boots to keep debris out. (Outdoor Research; $35.)

With no cars and more beaches than sidewalks, Fire Island is a welcome haven just beyond New York City. Take a train to Long Island, then the Sayville ferry to Sailor’s Haven. There you can marvel at a rare holly forest that isn’t actually sunken, but merely appears so on the leeward side of sand dunes towering along the 1.5 mile-boardwalk trail. You’re in a freshwater swamp in the midst of a narrow saltwater barrier island, where the sand ecology soaks up rainwater like a sponge.

Challenge Level: Easy.

Essential Gear: Pack a lunch in this fully compostable picnic set; it won’t affect the fragile ecology of the island. (Urban Picnic Box; $25.)

So stark and arid that you may find yourself looking for camels or bedouins, this 10-mile collection of billowing dunes is in fact on the Oregon coast. You don’t have to walk far to get a workout as each step sinks into the loose sand. As you round over the last dune, you’ll spot the Pacific Ocean and the Umpqua lighthouse. Head to the water’s edge for as many clams as you can carry—mussels, littlenecks, and bay clams.

Challenge Level: Easy.

Essential Gear: For a clam dinner on the beach, be sure to pack your shucking knife. (Oxo; $7.99.)

A 4,600-mile-long hiking path that stretches from the Crown Point in the Adirondacks in New York to Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota. On Lake Superior’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the NCT stretches along 42 miles of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, taking in 300-foot sandstone bluffs weathered by glaciation and time. The ancient rock formations have fanciful descriptive names like Miner’s Castle and Chapel Rock.

Challenge Level: Medium.

Essential Gear: On rocky shore paths, stabilize yourself with a walking stick and take the pressure off your knees. Find one on the trail or bring your own. (Mountainsmith; $69.)

Moose likely, bald eagles guaranteed along this 11-mile trail that hugs the coast of Anchorage, with skyscrapers and the snowcapped Chugach Mountains vying for your attention. You’ll witness some of the world’s fastest tides at Knik Arm (visitors are warned to stay off the mudflats). Take a moment to reflect at Earthquake Park, where 75 houses washed into the sea during the deadly 9.2 quake in 1964, the most powerful ever recorded in North America.

Challenge Level: Easy.

Essential Gear: A long walk on any coastal terrain—city or country—requires a serious pair of anti-blister socks. (WrightSock; $10.)

A preservationist dream as ambitious as Teddy Roosevelt’s creation of our National Park System, the California Coastal Trail aims to unite 1,200 miles of Pacific coastline by public footpath. Stretching from Santa Barbara to the Oregon border, the CCT encompasses arid views toward Tijuana, raging surf at Big Sur, and mellow seascapes in Mendocino County.

Challenge Level: Strenuous.

Essential Gear: On a shore hike, your most consistent safety risk is from the sun. We like a sunscreen with a dry texture and a seal of approval from the Skin Cancer Foundation. (Peter Thomas Roth; $26.)

The nearly 1,000 foot climb up the East face of Champlain Mountain packs big thrills into a short distance. The trail is mostly vertical, with boulders acting as your stairs and the occasional iron handhold to assist your climb. The payoff is in the scenery: endangered peregrine falcon nesting in the rock crevices, the Cranberry Islands, and glorious views over the Maine coast.

Challenge Level: Strenuous.

Essential Gear: Worried about getting lost on a challenging trail? This watch not only tells time and monitors a workout, it is GPS enabled to help map your way back to the beach. (Garmin; $349.)