Kiptopeke State Park

The first stop worth making after the bridge-tunnel, and a strange one. Nine concrete ships built during the Second World War lie half-sunk in a line offshore, scuttled here in the 1940s to shelter the old ferry terminal from the bay's chop. They are still there, rusting rebar and grey hulls, visible from the beach and the fishing pier.

Behind the beach the park runs into pine woods and dunes. Because the Delmarva Peninsula funnels migrating birds south to this exact point, autumn brings one of the densest raptor migrations on the East Coast, and the hawk observatory and songbird banding station are open to visitors from September through November.

Day-use fee per vehicle, swimming beach, boat ramp, camping and cabins if you want to break the drive here.