East of the South Beach lots the pavement ends and the beach keeps going: two miles of barrier sand with the bay on one side and the Atlantic on the other, open to anyone on foot and to trucks with a permit.
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Norton Point Beach is the barrier beach that runs east from South Beach in Katama toward Chappaquiddick, with Katama Bay on the inside and the open Atlantic on the outside. It is owned by Dukes County and, since 2023, managed by the Town of Edgartown, which sells the over-sand vehicle permits and decides when the sand is open. On foot it is free and it starts where the South Beach parking lots end.
This guide was written and photographed by MV Vacation, from walks out along the point and days on the sand in trucks that belonged to friends.
The beach is the island’s classic over-sand drive: air down the tires at the Left Fork, follow the track along the dune and set up wherever there is room. Walkers get the same beach without the truck, and in September, once the plovers have fledged and the crowds have gone, both have it nearly to themselves.
Know Before You Go
Before you go in the water
Open Atlantic with the same surf and undertow as South Beach, and no lifeguards anywhere on Norton Point. Swim near other people, keep children within reach, and stay out on big days.
Katama Bay is calm and warm, but the western end is too shallow to swim and the current runs hard near the opening when there is one. The bay-side tidal flats are closed to vehicles at all times.
Norton Point breaks through in big storms. The 2007 breach stayed open for eight years and turned Chappy into a real island, and the point broke again on January 1, 2026, opening a channel some 500 feet wide. Where a breach is open the point ends at moving water; never try to wade or drive across it.
Seals work this shore and white sharks follow them. A swimmer was bitten near the end of the vehicle area on August 31, 2026, confirmed by the state’s shark expert. Stay close to shore, avoid the seals, and check the Sharktivity app before you swim.
Finding Norton Point
Getting There
How to reach the beach
04 WAYSPark at the Left Fork or Right Fork lots at the end of Katama Road and walk east along the sand. The beach is continuous; how far you go is up to you and the tide.
The seasonal beach bus runs from Church Street in Edgartown to South Beach every half hour in summer, free through June 30, 2027. Walk east from the stop.
Four-wheel-drive only, with the town’s over-sand sticker front and back, tires aired down to about 15 psi and the required gear aboard. Stickers are sold through the town’s OpenGov portal and collected at the trailer at the Left Fork, daily 9 to 5 in season; the last published prices were $90 a year for residents and $140 for non-residents, with no day pass. The entrance is at the Left Fork.
The town opens and closes the sand for nesting birds, storms and erosion and posts the status on the Parks Department page, with a live vehicle-access map; in mid-September 2026 the sand was open to vehicles daily from 9 AM until dark. Parks Department: 508-627-6145.
A 
B 
C A: the entrance closed for the season in February 2026, snow on the dune; B: the view from the truck bed on an over-sand day; C: Katama Road in winter, the last stretch of pavement before the forks.
A Beach That Moves
Norton Point is a barrier beach in the literal sense: a bar of sand thrown up by the Atlantic between the ocean and Katama Bay, and the sea takes it back from time to time. In April 2007 a storm cut a channel through it, and for the next eight years the point ended at a fast-moving inlet, Chappaquiddick was an island in fact as well as name, and the current tore hundreds of feet off Wasque on the far side. The breach migrated east and finally closed against Chappy in 2015, and the sand has been rebuilding since. It happened again on the first day of 2026, when a winter storm cut a new channel about 500 feet wide; through the summer the town kept the sand open to walkers and, once the terns had fledged, to vehicles again. Older breaches opened in the 1950s and 1870s; the next one is a matter of when. The county and the town manage the beach with that in mind, which is why the open sections, the vehicle route and the parking all change from year to year.
On the Sand
What Norton Point is good for
04 WAYSTruck on the sand, chairs in its shade, the bay behind you and the surf in front. The Edgartown way to spend a July Saturday.
Flat sand as far as you like, with the bay a few steps over the dune whenever the ocean side gets loud.
Bass and bluefish along the whole strand in the Derby weeks, and the trucks line up for it.
Katama Bay is the calm water; launch from the bay side and stay clear of the opening if one is open.
Know Before You Go
Tips for visiting Norton Point
No sticker or fee to walk on from South Beach. The permit is only for driving on the sand.
If you drive: full-size spare, tow strap, jack and board, shovel and a tire gauge, and fill in any holes you dig. The town checks.
Fifteen miles an hour on the sand, five near the nesting areas, and the closures for plovers and terns run from spring into summer.
Off the beach April 1 to August 31; not between 9 AM and 5 PM from September 1 to 15; allowed from September 16 to March 31 under the county rules. Check the sign at the entrance.
Contained charcoal fires are allowed under the county rules if fully put out and buried; no open fires, no fireworks.
Questions
Questions about Norton Point Beach
Is Norton Point free?
On foot, yes. Walk east from the South Beach lots and there is no fee or sticker. Driving on the sand requires a Town of Edgartown over-sand permit.
Who runs Norton Point?
The land belongs to Dukes County; the Town of Edgartown has managed the beach and sold the vehicle permits since April 2023. The Chappy beaches across the point are run separately by The Trustees.
Can I drive all the way to Chappaquiddick?
Only when the point is closed against Chappy and the town has the route open. Breaches, nesting closures and erosion shut sections without much notice; check the day’s status.
Is it safe to swim at Norton Point?
The ocean side has real surf and no lifeguards; the bay side is calm but shallow at the western end and has a current near any opening. Swim carefully and near others.
Where is the over-sand entrance?
At the Left Fork end of Katama Road, past the South Beach lot, where the pavement ends.
The Record
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