Maryland: Assateague Island (Wild Ponies) – 1-day Itinerary

First horse sighting on Assateague Island.

Hello, world and welcome back to my adventure blog! In honor of my most recent adventure to Virginia and Maryland, I decided to make a comeback to the blogging world after so many years. I will be writing a separate blog post about my reason for being so absent and why I decided to return!

After a long year of COVID-19, my adventure partner and I had the privilege to attend the wedding of my childhood friend at the end of September in Baltimore, Maryland. We took off from September 24-27 to have more vacation time for ourselves. Our top-desired destination was Assateague Island, aka. the “horse island” as my adventure partner nicknamed it. As some of you probably know, I am very passionate about traveling which means I start planning my trips months in advance. Because we both had so much fun, I want to share my advice based on my research and actual experience by answering questions that are probably already popping up in your minds.

1. What is Assateague Island? What is Chincoteague Island?

Assateague Island is a 37 mile (59.5 km) long barrier island next to Maryland and Virginia. It is filled with beautiful beaches and home wild horses along with other wildlife. Visitors come to fish, sail on the waters, hike, bird watch, and find horses throughout the island. It is also a popular place to relax on the beaches. The Virginia side is home to the Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge which is home to acres of beach, dune, marsh, and maritime forest. While people go visit Assateague, no person resides on the island itself.

Chincoteague Island is in Virginia and is the state’s only resort Island, right next to Assateague Island. It is home to under 3,000 residents and is a popular spot to stay when visiting the wild horses. There are countless restaurants, shops, hotels, and even horse stables throughout the island!

2. How did we travel to Assateague Island?

The most convenient method of traveling to Assateague Island is to drive. The night before our visit, we arrived in Ocean City, Maryland which is about a 20-30 min drive from the island’s entrance. The advantage of using our own car was our ability to move more efficiently around the island and find some wild horses.

3. How long did we spend on Assateague Island?

The island itself is 37 miles long to be exact (59.5 km) and is located in both Maryland and Virginia. However, Although the island is located both in Maryland and Virginia, visitors are not allowed to drive up and down the island without a $110 OSV (over the sand) permit. The good news is that two separate entrances are about 58 miles (93.3 km) apart which is an hour and 20 min drive. That option allowed us to save money and still have the full experience of Assateague Island. We spent about five hours on the Maryland side and three hours in total on the Virginia side and on Chincoteague Island. With an early start in the day, we were able to spend the whole day searching for horses, basking in the sun, walking the trails, and stopping by both visitor centers to pick up some gifts.

Arriving at 8:00 am!

After driving around to enjoy the scenery, we relaxed on the Assateague National Seashore so we (meaning me) could get a suntan. My family lent us two lawn chairs that we could use.

This is the Assateague Island gift shop. Upon entering the parking lot, they charge an entrance fee to go to the beach. However, if you tell them you plan on going to the gift shop, you will not be charged. However, they will give you a placard to hang on your car that reflects that. They probably know that visitors have tried to excuse themselves from paying the fee.

There are several trails on the Maryland side where visitors can see magnificent views of the salt marshes.

I am using binoculars to look for any wildlife!

He is walking on the boardwalk and waiting for horses to show up!

4. What day did we go to Assateague Island? When did we arrive and depart from there? 

Through extensive research, I found out that the Maryland side of Assateague Island is a National Park, which meant that there were a few Fee Free Days throughout the year. Fortunately for us, one of those days was National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 25, one of our requested days off. Upon our arrival, the $25 vehicle entrance fee was waived. Even though the side on Virginia is not a National Park (owned by the U.S. Wildlife and Fisheries Department), the separate $10 entrance fee was also waived. 

When I found out that there is a maximum number of vehicles allowed on the island, I convinced my wonderful adventure partner (and personal driver) to arrive between 7:30 – 8:00am. Thankfully, we were some of the first to enter and had plenty of time to drive around and eat our lunch on the beach. When we left to go to Assateague’s Virginia side, we passed by a line of vehicles waiting to enter. Even when we reached the Virginia side in the afternoon, we had no issues with finding parking or waiting our turn in line. I highly recommend visiting earlier in the day to also have a good chance of seeing the wild horses. 

The main challenge of this trip was arriving in Baltimore on the same day since the wedding was on September 26. In addition, we wanted to attend a cocktail party hosted by the bride and groom that evening at 8:00pm. Because Baltimore is 171 mi (275 km) from the Virginia side, we departed at 2:00pm. We managed to reach our hotel and check-in around 7:30pm. Although my travel partner decided to rest, I was able to shower, dress up and arrive at the cocktail party by 8:30pm!

Here is a map to show our journey back to Baltimore. Keep in mind we stopped a few times to stretch our legs, fill the tank and grab dinner.

5. How many horses did we see throughout our visit?

We saw a total of twelve horses on the Maryland side!

Sighting #1. We were driving and passed this solo horse. Once I spotted this one, we turned around and parked to take pictures!

Sighting #1: We followed the first horse in our car as they walked down the road.

Sighting #2: This time he caught sight of three horses grazing by a parking lot. We were able to sneak some nice pics while keeping a safe distance between ourselves and the horses!

Sighting #2: Don’t mind me as I casually get a quick pic with these hungry horses.

Sighting #2: This shot was zoomed in with our Sony camera.

Sighting #3: While we were on the beach deck looking through the binoculars, we saw a herd of horses. I rushed and got a few pictures. There were a total of seven in this herd!

Sighting #4: This one was spotted while we were exiting the island.

Sighting #5: As we were driving through Chincoteague, we saw a horse stable selling cracked corn to feed the horses. He is shaking a cup of corn to attract the horse to come say hi!

Sighting #5: Two more horses that appeared to be inseparable.

Sighting #6: On the Virginia side, we drove by a whole crowd taking pictures from far away. I used my Canon digital camera to capture this herd of horses. I counted about seven horses!

Sighting #6: Here is a whole herd of horses. On the Virginia side, the horses are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company so they are fenced in. Because these horses are fenced in, there is a smaller chance of spotting horses.

Sighting #6: This one decided to eat alone!

6. Would we go back to Assateague and Chincoteague Island?

We both had a wonderful time and would be happy to go back! Next time, we are interested in staying on Chincoteague Island.

Selfie on the beach!