December 4, 2024.
I grew up on the east coast and lived there for over 20 years. Not once had I stepped foot in the state of Delaware. On this cross-country road trip, I intended to change that.
Besides all the corporate headquarters being located in Delaware, presumably for tax purposes, I knew nothing about the state. A little research online led me to their state parks website and to some information about the beautiful Delaware shoreline. I was sold. I booked a night at the Cape Henlopen state park campground.
Visitor Center and Seaside Nature Trail
With only a day and a half to get to know the Delaware coast, we hopped right to it. Our first stop was the state park visitor center. On the drive in, we noticed a car pulled over on the side of the road and a few people standing outside, looking into a large field. “Looks like a coyote,” we shrugged, and continued to the visitor center. When we arrived, the rangers were also standing outside. Apparently there had never been a coyote sighted at the park before. Whoops, I guess we’re just so used to seeing them that we didn’t think it was worth the stop.
Inside, we watched the park video (I ALWAYS recommend beginning with the park video, when available) and then walked around the small center. They had several tanks displaying the variety of aquatic habitats on the Delaware coast. We saw horseshoe crabs and other invertebrates as well as several species of fish. It was a small center but it was packed with things to see and learn.
Next we explored the quick half-mile nature trail behind the building. A wild turkey appeared and led the way down the path before abruptly turning into the trees. We soon left the trees behind and walked through some tall grasses to the sandy beach. We found horseshoe crab shells, jellyfish and other ocean detritus washed ashore. It was sunny and cold, just how an early winter day should be.
The Point
After taking a lunch break, we headed to the Point. The gift shop clerk recommended this hike. It’s closed seasonally for bird nesting (Mar 1-Sep 1) so were eager to check this less-frequently visited hike out. I stubbornly decided to do this barefoot, despite the very cold air, freezing sand and whipping wind. I can’t help it, I hate wearing shoes on a beach. We found way more dead stuff washed up on the sand here and of course I had to stop and examine most of it. We also watched several shorebirds, including surf scoters, ruddy turnstones and sanderlings. I recorded them in the Merlin app, as I have gotten in the habit of doing almost daily.
Campground and Ft. Miles area
Our bluebird day came to an abrupt halt as clouds moved in that afternoon. Aaron opted (wisely) to hang out in the van while I sneaked out for just one more hike. With such short days this time of year, I couldn’t justify sitting inside when the sun was still out. From our campsite, I hiked a nearly 5 mile loop that roughly followed the Walking Dunes loop plus the Salt Marsh Spur.
At the beginning, I was entertained with several closely spaced signs warning that the tides sometimes flood the trail and also there are archery hunters about. I kept my senses attuned to both rising saltwater and flying arrows, neither of which materialized on my walk. I hoped to find more birds, but aside from a great blue heron and a few dark-eyed juncos, nothing much caught my attention.
I was pleasantly surprised to see some other people out hiking in the deteriorating weather. The landscapes were gloomy, pretty. I took a small detour into the Fort Miles Historic Area, which was just a bunch of cannons and war propaganda. I’m sure people love this stuff but it’s just not for me. By the time I returned to the van I was confident that I made the most of my day and I was ready to relax and make some dinner.
Gordon’s Pond
The next day, we drove to the other end of the park in order to do a short walk to Gordon’s Pond. We were guaranteed to see more birds there. It was very cold and windy, so we waited several hours after breakfast to layer up and step out into the gale. It was worth the effort, because we saw a ton of birds hanging out at the edge of the pond! At first, it looked like the wind had blown a bunch of plastic bags or toilet paper up into the trees. But as we moved closer, we noticed that the “trash” was instead a bunch of great egrets. We also spotted some great blue herons hiding in the trees.
Those big birds always look so silly to me perched on the branches like finches or sparrows. At several points along the trail, we found good places to stand and watch the birds without disturbing them. Some white ibises also joined the party along the shoreline. We enjoyed getting a close look on the short section of trail we walked. With more time, you can follow the Gordon Pond Trail about 2 miles along the entire west side before turning around to return to the trailhead. We completed about half that.
I enjoyed our visit to the Delaware Coast. It seems to be quite the hotspot in summer, so I was glad we stopped by during the off-season. Despite the cold weather and short daylight, we managed to do multiple hikes, see a once-in-a-lifetime coyote, dip our toes in the ocean and observe several species of birds.