To escape a chafing sense of COVID captivity, my husband and I have headed to Assateague twice in the last six months-once in late October, and then again this May. Assateague Island was dedicated as a National Seashore on September 21, 1965, preserved forever as a constantly-shifting landscape of dunes and wind, buffeted and remade by the ocean’s currents. A 1950’s plan to create an ocean-front community was scuttled in 1962 after another massive storm ripped through the island, washing away roads and other infrastructure. In the late 19th and early 20th century there were several small communities on Assateague, as well as a resort hotel, four stations for the United States Life-Saving Service, and a handful of waterfowling clubs. In the long, highly populated stretch of beach towns from Lewes to Ocean City, Assateague is the coda, seemingly untouched by modernity or development. Small bands of ponies roam the island at will, browsing salt meadow hay and traversing through the goldenrod. The Maryland herd is managed by the National Park Service, while the Virginia herd is maintained by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, which also runs the annual Pony Penning Festival. Today, there are two main herds, separated by a fence at the state line. According to local folklore (and, of course, Misty of Chincoteague), they are the descendants of shipwrecked horses that swam to safety on the Virginia coast centuries ago. Importantly, the length of Assateague Island is home to an extraordinary population of tough wild horses. The southern end of the island is accessible through the Virginia town of Chincoteague, where a bridge connects visitors to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Assateague Island State Park and the Assateague National Seashore are accessible on its northern, Maryland end via the small town of Berlin. It straddles the Maryland/Virginia state line, forming a thin barrier between the Atlantic Ocean on its eastern shoreline and the coastal bays on its western, marshy side. Calved from Fenwick Island during a massive storm in 1933 that opened a new inlet, today Assateague Island is 37 miles long. ALL ABOUT ASSATEAGUEĪssateague Island is a Johnny-come-lately to the Delmarva landscape. Pitch a tent for a few nights between the stars and the sand, and get ready to explore one of the region’s wildest places. Best in the shoulder seasons, when the sunrises are cool and the summer crowds thin, Assateague is one of Delmarva’s most unforgettable destinations.
Just 20 minutes south of the high rises and soft serve of Ocean City, Maryland, Assateague’s wind-sculpted dunes and salt meadows are a startling, refreshing contrast. Truly the ends of the earth, this depopulated island is ruled by wild ponies and migratory shorebirds. Down where the end of Maryland’s Eastern Shore dissolves into Virginia, where the land is a slender, sandy finger pointing south to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, you reach Assateague Island.
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