6 Southern Beaches Where You Can Drive Right Up to the Water

Fun fact: long before there was NASCAR and the Daytona 400, people were driving on the hard-packed sands of Daytona Beach, which hosted its first auto and motorcycles race in 1902. A $20 pass will get you and your car access to the beach during daylight hours via ramps off Highway A1A in Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Ormond Beach, and New Smyrna Beach. Interspersed "no drive" areas mean you can't set off on a day-long cruise along the beach, but families will love being able to drive right to their sunning spot rather than lugging beach gear across the sand.

Only in Texas would all beaches be considered public highways—a quirk of state constitutional law that mandates "free and unrestricted access" to the beach. The longest stretch of beach road is on North Padre Island, where a 60-mile drive south of Corpus Christie on Park Road 22 highway will take you along the Gulf of Mexico and through Padre Island National Seashore, into an undeveloped and downright desolate coastal region inhabited by countless seabirds as well as coyotes and sea turtles. Park officials warn a GPS will not get you there—Park Road 22 dead ends to the park entrance, and if you get lost, contact Malaquite Visitor Center. Also, the only way to get to the South Padre Island, a resort community, from North Padre Island, is a three to four hour trip inland.

Long stretches of shoreline between Carova, North Carolina, and the Hatteras Inlet—plus parts of Ocracoke Island—are open to drivers with off-road vehicle permits either seasonally or year-round. During the winter, you can even drive at night on the beaches of the national seashore, where beach bonfires are permitted. The northern end of the Outer Banks is especially remote.

The sugar-white sands of Grayton Beach are set along Florida's iconic Highway 30A and adjacent to Grayton Beach State Park. It's a prime destination for fishing, boating, walking, gazing out into the turquoise waters of the Gulf, and yes—driving on the beach — but there's a catch. Only 150 beach driving permits – priced at $135 each – are offered each year, and there are strict qualifications that must be met, including possessing a driver's license, proof of property ownership, proof of current property taxes, proof of Walton County voter registration, and current 4-wheel drive vehicle registration for the state of Florida. Eligible applicants are entered into a lottery, and if they are selected, they can purchase a permit.

There's more than 12 miles of unspoiled beaches accessible to OSV (Over Sand Vehicles) drivers in the Maryland district of the Assateague Island National Seashore. Drivers must purchase a permit, which lasts a year, stay within OSV zones, carry safety equipment, and follow driving-safety rules. Aside from over-sand beach cruising, this national park, shared by both Maryland and Virginia, offers camping, fishing, hunting, crabbing, or spotting herds of wild horses, which, according to lore, either arrived by shipwreck or were left behind by farmers avoiding fencing rules and taxes.

With the exception of sea turtle nesting season, from May 1 to October 31, vehicle access is allowed, with day or season passes, on St. John's County beaches, including Vilano, Surfside, Usina, and St. Augustine beaches, which run along Northeast Florida's "historic coast." Vehicle access spans more than 16 miles, and access points, maps, and passes are available from the county. Popular beach activities in the area include surfing, biking, swimming, shell collecting, and fishing.