Silver Sands State Park

State Park · Milford, Connecticut

A shoreline state park in Milford with something no other Connecticut beach has: a TOMBOLO, a natural sand bar that surfaces at low tide and lets you walk out to Charles Island, about half a mile offshore. The island is a bird nesting sanctuary and is closed to landing for much of the year, and the bar floods fast on the returning tide, which is why the fire department pulls people off it every summer. Behind the beach is a long boardwalk over salt marsh that is one of the better free bird walks on the coast, with egrets, herons and osprey through the season. The beach itself is broad and shallow with a long walk out at low water. The park was cheap or free to park at for years and now charges in season like the rest, which regulars still complain about. Time any visit to LOW TIDE if the sand bar is the reason you are coming, because it is underwater for most of the day and it floods fast on the way back in - the fire department pulls people off it every summer. The marsh boardwalk behind the beach is free, is open all year and is arguably the better half of the park.

1 Silver Sands Parkway, Milford, Milford, Connecticut, 06460, United States

Open daily year round from around eight to sunset. The BEACH season with lifeguards and full facilities runs roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day. PARKING IS CHARGED in season, with a higher rate for out-of-state vehicles, and is usually free off season. CHARLES ISLAND IS CLOSED TO LANDING during the bird nesting season, typically spring into late summer - the closure is posted and enforced.

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