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A clay stack at the water’s edge in low sun, with waves washing around a smaller boulder at its foot.
Lucy Vincent Beach: residents-only in summer, open to all off-season. Famous glacial cliffs, Atlantic surf, and access rules.
Lucy Vincent Beach has some of the most striking coastline on Martha's Vineyard and some of its strictest summer rules. The Atlantic-facing beach on the south shore of Chilmark is known for its multicolored glacial cliffs, a long clothing-optional tradition, and a summer policy that limits use to Chilmark residents, their guests and tenants from June 1 through September 15. Non-residents can visit freely from September 16 through May 31, when no pass is needed.
Filmed March 2023The island moves on: shops, signs and prices may differ from what you see here. The text of this guide was checked October 2026.
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Summer restricted period (June 1 – September 15): Access requires a valid beach sticker or walk-on pass. Only Town of Chilmark residents qualify, not neighboring Aquinnah, West Tisbury, or any other Martha's Vineyard town. Eligible users include property owners, tenants holding a valid lease, and guests with a written letter from their host. Beach hours: 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Off-season public access (September 16 – May 31): The beach is open to everyone, with no sticker, pass or fee, and the gate is unstaffed. This is the only window for non-residents.
Summer renters get stickers by bringing a completed application with the Chilmark rental address, car registration, a valid lease and payment to Chilmark Town Hall (401 Middle Road, 508-645-2100). Only one sticker per house is valid at a time, so the homeowner has to surrender theirs before a tenant can get one.
| Category | Price |
|---|---|
| Vehicle parking sticker | $100/season |
| Walk-on pass | $25/season |
| Sticker transfer fee | $35 |
| Off-season | Free, no pass needed |
There is no daily fee or meter parking; the seasonal sticker is the only option. On peak summer days the lot fills around 1:00 PM, and there are bike racks.
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The red clay cliffs at Lucy Vincent.
The multicolored bluffs, historically called the Wequobsque Cliffs, show bands of yellow, red, orange, gray and brown. Despite being popularly called "clay cliffs," the formations are mostly sand and gravel with some clay. They are part of a glacial terminal moraine deposited approximately 21,000 years ago during the Wisconsinan glaciation.
The layers span a long stretch of time: Cretaceous-era clays dating to 60–100 million years ago sit alongside Pleistocene sediments, iron-cemented conglomerates, granite erratics, and even lignite (low-grade coal). The red clay is classified as part of the South Amboy Fire Clay of the Raritan formation.
Compared to the Aquinnah Cliffs (130–150 feet, a National Natural Landmark), Lucy Vincent's cliffs are shorter (estimated at 50–100 feet), with similar colors from the same old layers.
The cliffs erode fast. Since 1915 the shoreline has receded about 400 feet, and it now loses 2.5 to 7 feet a year. The beach's well-known freestanding rock spire collapsed overnight on May 1–2, 2020. Walking right under the cliffs isn't safe, climbing on cliffs or dunes is prohibited, and touching or collecting clay is banned by town regulation.
The red clay of the cliffs at Lucy Vincent Beach. Chilmark’s town beach is resident-and-guest only in summer and opens to everyone out of season.
A 1995 archaeological survey at the cliffs found evidence of people living here about 10,000 years ago, including a spear point, among the oldest traces of human life on Martha's Vineyard. This is Wampanoag ancestral ground, one more reason to stay off the cliff face.
Lucy Vincent Beach has had a clothing-optional section for roughly a century. Nudity is not officially legal; it has long been informally tolerated. The clothing-optional area is at the right (far/east) end, well away from the main family section, starting about 1,500 feet from the beach entrance.
The clay bluffs behind the sand, with sea stacks farther down the beach. The shoreline here loses 2.5 to 7 feet a year.
The tradition traces to at least the 1920s, when the Barn House cooperative, populated by intellectuals including Thomas Hart Benton, Max Eastman, and Roger Baldwin (founder of the ACLU), practiced nude bathing. Through the 1960s–70s, the beach was known as "Jungle Beach." Chilmark has never enacted a formal nudity ban.
Lucy Vincent faces due south into the open Atlantic, so it gets real surf. It's a body surfing and boogie boarding beach, and storm waves can reach 10–15 feet. Hard surfboards and windsurfers are prohibited.
Atlantic surf running over the rocks at the water line.
Rip currents are a documented hazard here, with rescues in 2010 (on three consecutive days), 2021 and 2023. An offshore sandbar feeds the currents, and the tidal pool that forms at low tide looks safe but turns dangerous as the tide comes in.
Chilmark's posted rules list no lifeguards here, though the town has stationed guards in recent summers; it's safest to treat the beach as unguarded. In the off-season (the only period non-residents can visit) there are no lifeguards on duty. In July and August the water here runs mostly in the 60s, a few degrees cooler than on the Sound side, dropping to ~42°F in winter.
The beach's namesake was Lucinda P. Vincent (née Mosher), Chilmark's longest-serving town librarian, from 1924 to 1962. Writer Gale Huntington recalled: "If some question was going to come up in town meeting, they said, 'Well, you better go and speak to Lucy about that.'"
Lucy herself rarely went to the beach; she considered the cliffs dangerous. Before the beach became public, visitors would run past her house to reach the shore. Lucy died in 1970. Her heirs sold the beachfront property, and about three years later the town opened it as the Lucinda Vincent Memorial Beach.
Boats on a calm Chilmark pond at dusk. Lucy Vincent is well up-island off South Road, and the closest bus stop, on Route 5 at the Chilmark Community Center, is about a mile from the beach.
GPS: Lucy Vincent Beach Rd, Chilmark, MA 02535 (41.34°N, 70.73°W).
From Vineyard Haven ferry terminal (~13 miles, ~25 minutes): Take State Road southwest through West Tisbury into Chilmark. At Beetlebung Corner, continue on South Road and turn south onto Lucy Vincent Beach Road.
VTA bus: Route #5 (West Tisbury–Chilmark–Aquinnah via South Road) is the closest line. The Chilmark Community Center is the nearest stop, about a one-mile walk from the beach. VTA buses are fare-free through June 2027.
Facilities are kept minimal: porta-potties in the parking lot, no permanent restrooms, showers, concessions or picnic tables, and a carry-in, carry-out trash policy. Dogs are not permitted during summer season, and the beach has an informal "radio-free zone" culture.
For non-residents, mid-September through October is a good time to visit: the September 15 restriction has lifted, the weather is still pleasant and the water lingers around 60–65°F. In spring (April–May) the cliffs show fresh winter erosion, but the water is cold and there are no lifeguards.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one price range. Only from September 16 through May 31. In that window the gate is unstaffed and the beach is open to everyone with no sticker or fee. From June 1 to September 15 it is limited to Chilmark residents, their tenants and their guests, and no other island town counts.
For those who qualify, a vehicle sticker is $100 per season and a walk-on pass is $25. There is no daily fee and no meter parking. Off-season visits are free. Summer renters apply at Chilmark Town Hall with a lease and car registration.
Route 5 along South Road is the closest VTA line, and the Chilmark Community Center stop is about a one-mile walk from the beach. VTA buses are fare-free through June 2027. Our Chilmark guide covers the rest of the town.
Don't count on one. Chilmark's posted rules list none, though the town has put guards here in some recent summers, and there are none in the off-season. The beach faces due south into the open Atlantic and rip currents are a documented hazard, with rescues in 2010, 2021 and 2023. It's worth swimming with care and keeping an eye on the tide; our beach safety guide has more.
Dogs are not permitted during the summer season; check the town rules for the off-season before bringing one. Facilities are minimal on purpose: porta-potties in the lot, no showers, no food, no picnic tables, and a carry-in, carry-out trash policy.
Mid-September through October. The restriction has lifted, the weather is still pleasant and the water lingers around 60 to 65 degrees. Spring is dramatic after winter storms but cold. Whenever you come, the cliff face is off-limits: erosion is constant and climbing is prohibited.
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