Photo/Art by Deganta Choudhury

The beaches that stretch along New Englands coastline beckon both locals and tourists to their sandy shores. With so many choices, how do you decide which one is worth the trip? From warmest water to most scenic, we share our picks for the best beaches in New England.

Warmest Water Silver Sands State Park, Milford, Connecticut To find warmth, head south to the shallow slopes of Long Island Sound. The beach at Silver Sands State Park is small compared with other Connecticut state parks, but it is delightfully more remote.

Its also far more affordable than many of the private town beaches in this part of Connecticut. A long boardwalk leads from the parking lot across a marsh (good for bird-watching, but not great if youre carrying food, sand toys, and Junior). Silver Sands

Best Walk Napatree Point, Watch Hill, Rhode Island With its highest point being a mere 812 feet, Rhode Island is not a place most folks think of when they want to take a hike. Yet it does have some of the longest beach strolls in New England. Napatree Point juts out from the village of Watch Hill on a wild strip of coastline, offering views of Connecticut and Fishers Island, New York.

Take off your shoes and listen to the waves as you saunter along the water all the way to the point of this crescent-shaped beach. The spit of land curves back toward Rhode Island, similar to how Provincetown lies at the tip of Cape Cod. Sailboats cruise Block Island Sound; ospreys and their young fly above the shores. As you reach the point and the last square foot of terra firma, the wind begins to howl, the surf seems a bit more ominous, and the sand is replaced by large battered rocks. On the return trip, youll be treated to a view of the Victorian houses that cling to the bluffs of Watch Hill. visitwatchhill.com

Best Surfing Narragansett Town Beach, Narragansett, Rhode Island When hurricane swells from the Caribbean sweep up the Atlantic seaboard in the summer months, most people on the East Coast batten down their hatches and hide indoors. Everybody, that is, except surfers on the Rhode Island coast. Narragansett Town Beach is quickly gaining acclaim as the place to be when tropical depressions make their move north from mid-July to mid-September. The crescent-shaped beach and shifting sandbars often produce waves in excess of 10 feet. Even without inclement weather, the surf is reasonably good all year. In the winter, there are swells in the 3- to 4-foot range. In summer, when the water often resembles a duck pond, you need patience. The best time for the sport is in the early-morning hours before the winds pick up. If the waves arent working at Narragansett, try Second Beach (Sachuset) in Middletown. Gansett Juice (74 Narragansett Ave.; 401-789-7890; gansettjuice.com) rents boards for the town beach and gives lessons. narragansettri.com/beach.htm

Best for Solitude Mohegan Bluffs, Block Island, Rhode Island A patch of grass lines a redbrick lighthouse that has been keeping watch on the southeast corner of Block Island for more than a century and a quarter. Below, sea-gouged clay cliffs plummet some 200 feet to a white crescent beach that serves as a welcome mat for the Atlantic surf. The lap of waves is interrupted only by the call of a goldfinch making its way north. To stand on this wild stretch of coastline below Mohegan Bluffs is to truly feel inconsequential.

But privacy always comes with a price. In this case, its getting here. For the most scenic experience, take an hour-long ferry from Point Judith or New London, Connecticut, to Block Island, pick up a bike in Old Harbor, ride three miles south, and then walk down the wooden stairs to the beach. Here the surf is always strong, the sand dotted with driftwood and sea glass. For a great natural spa treatment, take a good hunk of clay from the cliffs and massage your body, then rinse off in the ocean. blockisland.com

Best Sand Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, Massachusetts Wishing to get a better view than I had yet had of the ocean I made a visit to Cape Cod. Thus began the account of Henry David Thoreaus adventures in the book Cape Cod. Thoreau walked the coastline from Eastham to Provincetown three times in the mid-19th century, comparing his treks along the desolate seascape to traveling a desert. Naturalist Henry Beston followed Thoreaus path to Eastham. In The Outermost House, Beston describes his experience of living for a year on the dunes of Coast Guard Beach between 1926 and 1927. The house no longer stands, but you can still get a feeling of the isolation these men felt amid the towering dunes.

Take a shuttle bus from the nearby Little Creek parking area, then walk down the steps to the pearly white sand. This is no flat beach, but one that slopes up to the dunes, sand piled high, soft and warm to the touch. Veer left and stroll past the sunbathers. Youll soon have this slice of Cape Cod National Seashore to yourself. easthamchamber.com

Most Scenic Aquinnah Public Beach (formerly Moshup Beach), Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts Far from the ferries that disembark in the busy summer retreats of Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, Aquinnah Public Beach is set in the wild southwestern corner of Marthas Vineyard, tucked southeast of the Aquinnah Cliffs. Layers of clay form the cliffs, with varying degrees of vivid color depending on the sedimentary deposit. The result is a dramatic backdrop of reds, greens, yellows, and whites, which becomes even more striking at sunset. The days last rays create a spectacular light show across the cliffs.

A 10-minute walk from the parking lot at Aquinnah Lighthouse will bring you to the public portion of the beach. Turn right and youll notice that the rounded cliffs become more jagged as they get taller, and the colors grow more intense the closer you get. (Note: Climbing on the cliffs and removing clay are prohibited. Part of the beach beneath the cliffs is also off-limits to the public.) mvy.com/islandinfo/beaches.html

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Yankee Magazine: 10 Best Beaches in New England