Assateague and Chincoteague
June 3, 2024
We slept in on Thursday before driving the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel into Maryland. We are thankful to have an EZ Pass accepted for tolls in many states.
At the Chincoteague Refuge, we visited the lighthouse and drove Beach Road out to Tom’s Cove before walking the Woodland Trail to a pony overlook.
We could see the ponies from across the marsh, but a Sitka elk bounded away feet from us on the trail.
The Wildlife Loop drive was open to cars in the late afternoon, so we circumnavigated the scenic Snow Goose Pond, which had lovely views (but no ponies). We camped for two nights in an idyllic site at Pocomoke State Park, with a return trip to Chincoteague for a private pony boat tour with Chincoteague Island Adventures.
Captain Randy Birch is a native “teaguer” with tons of local knowledge and stories about the island. He knew where the ponies frequent and could get us close to a small band.
We headed to Assateague National Park and Seashore on Saturday, where horses were everywhere, including under the sign!
At the Visitor Center, we watched a movie on the history of the island and another about the horses themselves. On the Assateague and Chincoteague Islands, all the horses have round bellies from all the salt they consume with the marsh grasses, meaning they drink a lot of fresh water. The herds on the Islands are kept separate and managed very differently. The Chincoteague “ponies” are owned by the Chincoteague Fire Department and are rounded up yearly by the famous pony swim. Sales of ponies after the swim manage the island population. Assateague horses belong to the National Park Service, which does not handle them other than to dart them annually with a contraceptive to control their numbers. While the horses are wild, they have learned that people = food, so they can be destructive in searching campsites. Our campsite was just behind the dunes on the beach, and the horses did visit us there—we keep a clean campsite, so there is nothing for them to eat!
Larry assembled our bikes, and then we biked to the park’s south end, the Old Ferry Landing and Bayside Campground, where we hiked the marsh and forest trails.
Not stopping!
We were at a lifesaving station exhibit across the parking lot from the campground area and heard our car alarm start to go off. A group of children had been playing basketball and bounced the ball rather soundly against the truck grille, which set off the alarm. Though that kept them from playing ball near the truck for the next few days, they enjoyed using our picnic table and biking through our site. Welcome to summer camping! 😬
On Sunday, we biked back to the mainland for two programs at the Visitor Center.
Larry got his Junior Ranger badge before a talk on horses, and then we enjoyed the touch tank, where another ranger let us hold whelks, clams, and crabs.
Summer and winter ranges of the Assateague horses
On the way back across the bridge, we saw some rangers patiently herding some horses away from the bridge and wondered if any had ever crossed over to the mainland.
We participated in two more ranger programs in the afternoon, clamming and crabbing.
Larry was quite successful finding clams, and we each caught a crab, which isn’t easy as the wily crustaceans in that area are well-versed in avoiding capture.
We asked the rangers about horses crossing the bridge, and they told us that it is rare but can happen if the horses are frightened by people or traffic and choose the bridge as an escape route. Our stay on Assateague ended with a perfect sunset!
Next…did we really drive a truck camper through downtown New York City during a Friday rush hour 🤔
Trivia?
Chinky the Banker Pony by Sanford Tousey, published in 1941, “might” have a similar storyline to Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, published in 1947.
Islanders are grateful for the tourism generated by Marguerite Henry’s book series.