8.3 miles | 92 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★

There’s a direct ferry from the bottom of Manhattan, 30 minutes to Sandy Hook, NJ. We’ve known about the ferry for years, but this year, we finally tried it out. Landing right at Fort Hancock, you’re immediately immersed in the history that was once there. Shuttle buses will take you to the beach of your choice, but we wanted to wander and explore.

Once we disembarked, we first wandered north, taking in the batteries and observation deck with views of Brooklyn and Manhattan. We walked towards the northern tip, but it seemed several miles still and we had limited time. A trip for another time.

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After exploring the historic sights, we walked east until we hit the Ocean and northern section of Gunnison Beach. As a kid, I used to love walking along the coast, on firm sand with the waves splashing against my legs. Not so much here. The coast was still relatively soft and sloped, making the hike a bit more challenging than expected. 5 miles later, when we finally found a path back towards the center of the peninsula, my legs were like jello.

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Once we met up with the multipurpose trail, it was only a few miles back to our starting point. Our original plan was to loop the whole beach, 10 or so miles, not counting our historic walk, but the sun and time forced us to head back. From the multipurpose trail, we saw the bay to the west and wandered in and out of tree shade. On foot, we were among the minority, but dozens of bikes whizzed by in both directions. Back near the pier, we still had some time to kill so found a tree and enjoyed a well deserved nap.

We might be back to Sandy Hook to swim, but I’m not sure about beach hiking anytime soon.