North End Beach
Hidden GemNorth End Beach is a beach in North End, Virginia Beach, best for quiet mornings, locals' beach days, long walks, dog walking outside summer daytime hours.
North of 42nd Street the Boardwalk ends and the crowds thin out fast: the North End is the same wide Atlantic sand as the Resort Beach with none of the commercial strip behind it — just residential beach houses and street-end access paths. There are no lifeguards, no restrooms, and no rentals, which is exactly why locals favor it for morning walks and low-key beach days. Summer dog rules are friendlier here than on the resort sand, and the beach runs all the way up to the dunes below Fort Story. Bring everything you need; there is nothing to buy once you cross the dune line.
Amenities
- Street-end public access paths
- Uncrowded residential shoreline
Know Before You Go
- Best for: quiet mornings, locals' beach days, long walks, dog walking outside summer daytime hours
- Parking: Free street parking at the numbered street ends, but spaces are scarce and residential — arrive early on summer weekends and mind posted no-parking zones.
- Accessibility: Sand access is via unimproved street-end paths over the dunes; no ramps, restrooms, or beach matting. Not well suited to wheelchairs without assistance.
- Dogs: allowed — Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, dogs are allowed on the sand north of 42nd Street only before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m., leashed or under voice control. Off-season, dogs are welcome anytime and may be off leash on the beach.
- Location: Atlantic Ocean beach from 42nd Street north to Fort Story, accessed via numbered street ends off Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA
Last verified 2026-07-10.
More Beaches Nearby
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge BeachHidden Gem
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge protects about 3 miles of Atlantic shoreline south of Sandbridge, reached on foot from the Visitor Contact Station via two…
Chic's Beach (Chesapeake Bay Beach)Hidden Gem
Chic's Beach — officially Chesapeake Beach, never called that by locals — is the bay answer to the Atlantic beaches: gentle, shallow water with small waves,…
Croatan Beach
Across Rudee Inlet from the Resort Strip, Croatan is Virginia Beach's surf beach: the Croatan Jetty is one of the city's two classic breaks, a left-hander…
False Cape BeachHidden Gem
The most remote beach in Virginia Beach — arguably in Virginia: False Cape State Park's Atlantic shoreline sits beyond Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge with…
While You're in the Area
Cape Henry Lighthouse
Completed in 1792, the Cape Henry Lighthouse was the first federally funded public works project in the United States — authorized under George Washington,…
Cape Henry Memorial & First Landing Cross
This quarter-acre National Park Service site — part of Colonial National Historical Park — marks where the Jamestown colonists first came ashore in April 1607…
Cowabunga Ray's E-Bike Rentals
North End fat-tire e-bike rentals — 750-watt motors with 35-60 miles of range, sized for riders 4'11" to 6'6", rented by the hour, day, or week.
Edgar Cayce's A.R.E. (Association for Research and Enlightenment)Hidden Gem
At 67th Street and Atlantic Avenue, a few blocks past the hotels of the Resort Strip, sits the world headquarters of the Association for Research and…
The Hunt Room
Fireplace-and-leather tavern inside the historic Cavalier Hotel, with rare bourbons, game-meat plates, and weekend live music until 1am.
Wyndham Virginia Beach Oceanfront
North End beachfront hotel at 57th Street with a semi-private beach, year-round pools, and a pet policy with no breed or size limits.
- Dog Friendly
- Waterfront
- Free Parking
Upcoming Events Nearby
Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend
September 25, 2026 – September 27, 2026 · annual
Virginia Beach's signature festival closes out September with its 52nd Boardwalk Weekend, spreading across the Oceanfront between 1st and 35th Streets. The headline draw is Neptune's International Sandsculpting Championship — 22 large-scale works by sculptors from around the world — alongside an art and craft show with more than 200 artisans, twenty-plus musical acts across festival stages, the Grand Parade, Neptune's 8K, and a surfing competition at the jetty. Most of it is free to attend, and it reliably fills the resort area for one last big weekend of the season.
Virginia MOCA Boardwalk Art Show
October 9, 2026 – October 11, 2026 · annual
One of the longest-running outdoor art shows on the East Coast marks its 70th year along the Virginia Beach Boardwalk. Produced by the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the juried show brings artists from across the country to sell painting, sculpture, photography, glass, and fine craft directly to visitors with the Atlantic as the backdrop. Hours run 10am–6pm Friday, 10am–5pm Saturday, and 10am–4pm Sunday, and October's thinner crowds make it an easy, walkable browse.
Wicked 10K Weekend
October 30, 2026 – October 31, 2026 · annual
Coastal Virginia's largest Halloween race weekend starts at the Convention Center on 19th Street and finishes on the Boardwalk near 20th, with runners in costume covering the flat, fast oceanfront course for the 10K, a Wicked 5K, or the shorter Monster Mile. A costume contest and a post-race beach party with food and drink follow the finish line. Presented by Sentara and run by J&A Racing — the same organizer behind the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend — it's the Halloween counterpart to that spring race on the same stretch of Boardwalk.