Parks · Sussex County

Cape Henlopen

Ocean · Lewes · 5,451 acres

Still bay water at dusk under a heavy gray and cream cloudscape, with low marsh islands topped by pines in the middle distance and marsh grass in the foreground. — Swipe for the rest.

A wide flat salt marsh of green and gold grass under an overcast sky, tall pale reed heads in the foreground and a narrow tidal creek winding away to the left. — Swipe for the rest.

The biggest park in the state and the one where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic. Great Dune, WWII observation towers, a fishing pier, and a campground with a bike loop down to the beaches. The point is a genuinely wild stretch of coast twenty minutes from Rehoboth.

What's there

Facilities

7/22 confirmed

Beach: Yes
Guarded swimming: Yes
Surf fishing: Yes
Camping: Yes
Cabins: Not confirmed
Trails: Yes
Boat launch: Not confirmed
Boat rentals: Not confirmed
Pier: Yes
Disc golf: Yes
Playground: Not confirmed
Fishing: Not confirmed
Kayak or canoe: Not confirmed
Crabbing: Not confirmed
Water park: Not confirmed
Ropes course: Not confirmed
Climbing wall: Not confirmed
Horse trails: Not confirmed
Tennis: Not confirmed
Golf: Not confirmed
Riding stables: Not confirmed
Restrooms: Not confirmed

Where things are

The Point — closed until autumn: Shut 1 March 2026 for nesting and migrating birds. Ocean side reopens 1 September, bayside 1 October.

Getting in

Entry, 2026: $10 in-state · $20 out-of-stateCharged 1 March – 30 November. Free outside it.
Annual pass: $50 for a Delaware-registered vehicle, $100 out of state.Discounted passes are available for active-duty military and veterans; the discounted amounts are not confirmed. Deauville Beach has its own annual pass at $115.
Where to buy: Delaware State Parks — passes and permitsOnline at destateparks.com, which issues a virtual pass usable for 30 days from purchase, or at a park office.
Hours: 8 a.m. – sunset, daily
Getting there: Open in Google Maps to Cape Henlopen State Park (opens Google Maps)
Park office: 302-645-8983

Dogs

Leashed year-round outside the guarded swimming beaches. Non-guarded and surf-fishing sand is open in July.

The full rule, with dates

Other parks in Sussex County

Delaware Seashore — ocean and bay, Rehoboth Beach
Fenwick Island — ocean and bay, Fenwick Island
Holts Landing — bay, Dagsboro
Trap Pond — pond, Laurel

Where it is

Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, DEDirections →

Read from the source — not yet confirmed by phone

Read from Delaware State Parks on 9 Aug 2026 · not yet confirmed by phone

Delaware State Parks — Park roster and facilities.
Delaware State Parks: passes, permits and fees — 2026 fee schedule, effective 1 March 2026.
Delaware State Parks: disc golf — The operator's own disc golf page. Names all seven state parks with a course: Bellevue, Brandywine Creek, Cape Henlopen, Killens Pond, Lums Pond, Trap Pond and White Clay Creek. Publishes no hole counts, tee-pad detail or course maps.
Delaware State Parks: park office phone numbers — DNREC's own contact page, read 8 August 2026. Lists an office number for every state park.
Delaware State Parks: disc golf scorecards — The state publishes a scorecard and course map PDF per course. Read 8 August 2026; each park's own card is linked from its record.
Delaware State Parks, confirmed 8 August 2026 — Standard day-use hours of 8 a.m. to sunset, and which attractions are charged separately from park admission.
Delaware State Parks — Cape Henlopen — The Point closure dates, read 9 August 2026.
DNREC: Cape Henlopen park page — Read 12 August 2026. States its own entrance fee — $10/day Delaware plates, $20/day out-of-state, the ocean rate — and the guarded season verbatim: 'Swimming Beach is Guarded Memorial Day Saturday to Labor Day Monday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily.' For 2026 that is 23 May through 7 September.
DNREC: passes, permits and fees — Read 12 August 2026. The daily entrance fee is charged 1 March through 30 November; inland $5/$10, ocean $10/$20, walking and biking in free.

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