Trail Overview

This is an original beach highway that is typically no longer used as such. Please pay attention to posted signs as there are time periods (generally spring/summer) when motor vehicles are not allowed in some sections. This trail-esq highway is solely a beach with minimal rocks. There are spots of heavy ruts and a couple of sections with 1ft+ drops. For the most part, this is soft squishy wet sand, however, there are places where you'll venture into soft dry sand as well. It should be worth reminding that beach speed limits are usually 25MPH and rangers are out often to enforce speeds.

Photos of Ocean Shores Beach Highway

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Difficulty

Normally, I would give beach driving a level 1 rating, however I'm going to give this a 2 since there are a couple of drop offs that one should be aware and cautious of.

Technical Rating

Michael DeGraff

Oct 15, 2026

2005 Ford Ranger

Open

Normal

Status: Open – Excellent Conditions: Fresh high tide left flat, hard-packed sand — great drive. Report Fresh high tide made the sand flat and hard-packed for an easy, smooth drive. A 2WD would have no problem staying on the hard pack on the seaward side. It was a great sunny day with no issues at all. We even played around on the high side in the grass and clam beds looking for driftwood. Fun day overall — beach was in good shape. Quick Context (from official trail info & local rules) Trail: Ocean Shores Beach Highway (~8.9 miles, Technical Rating 2 Easy, full-width beach driving). Best practice: Stay on the hard-packed wet sand (seaward side). Soft “sugar” sand higher up near the dunes and clam beds can still bog vehicles. Rules: 25 mph speed limit. Pedestrians, dogs, and horses have right of way. Street-legal vehicles only. Always check posted signs at the approaches (some seasonal restrictions apply in spring/summer). Tides matter: Drive on a falling or lower tide when possible and s

Sebastien Saramito

May 28, 2026

2025 Jeep Wrangler

Open

Normal

How lucky to be able to ride on a beach, something unthinkable in France!

Jacob chappell

May 24, 2026

2015 jeep wrangler

Open

Awesome smoth drive down the beach lots of people

Alex Cornejo

May 21, 2026

2004 Subaru Forester xs

Open

Normal

Beach is still a beach there is a beached whale been there about a month now. Cold windy and sandy but it’s very fun to drive around and setup a camp

Basalt Overland

Mar 08, 2026

1990 Isuzu Trooper

Open

Normal

The beach was great, and wide open. The weather was nice so it was somewhat busy. There is a large dead seal on the beach.

Matt Nelsen-wright

May 24, 2025

1991 Jeep Cherokee

Open

NormalDusty

was easy and fun. lot of people because of memorial day coming up. evening gives a little more time to play be careful of dry sand that starts creating windrows it can suck you in

Matt Nelsen-wright

Apr 07, 2025

1991 Jeep Cherokee

Open

trail was pretty good lot of deep potholes going from ocean city to the trail careful with speed. on the trail sand was dense and compact from rainfall no wotries about sinking. lot of wood debris to navigate around but fairly easy. couple creek crossings gotta watch the drop off but if you go slow it'll be ok.

Dale T

Jan 26, 2025

2023 Ford Bronco

Open

Normal

Great weekend. Sand was cold as was the temperature but we were ready for it. A decent amount of people out because of the sunny weekend

M E

Aug 04, 2024

Open

Normal

Large open beach access. Lots of trash, lots of people mostly hard pack with a few places of soft sand.