I don’t know why I still get shocked to find amazing destinations in our beautiful state. I guess somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I figure that it must all be tapped out. And yet here we are again, sharing another amazing hidden gem with you. As we strolled along this spectacular beach, we felt like we had been magically transported to the Caribbean. This is a highly protected conservation area, so you will need to be exceptionally careful not to disturb the fragile environment around you.
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Trails
This sanctuary, owned by the Nature Conservancy, is pretty remote. The driveway that leads to the parking area looks like a one-way road due to the trees and bushes that crowd the lane. We were nervous that we would intercept another vehicle on our way in. There is a grassy parking area that is surrounded by trees, and the trailhead is fairly obvious. We visited on a bright, sunny day, and the trail was really beautiful. There are some hollows along the trail that were definitely super creepy. They had a haunting beauty about them that reminded me of something out of a Grimm fairy tale, but between you and me, I would not want to visit this place close to dark.
The trail is about 1.4 miles and travels over all sorts of different habitats. The wildlife here is abundant, and we saw so many different kinds of birds and frogs. While it was not particularly buggy in El Dorado Beach Preserve, I noticed it was really humid. It was pretty early in the morning, and we still felt the heat intensely.
Beach
The weirdest thing about the beach is although you can clearly hear the water crashing on the shore as you walk the trail, you see absolutely no evidence of the beach until the very last moment. Then it suddenly appears and dominates everything. One of the interesting features of this beach is that it is sand. Almost every beach I have visited on Lake Ontario is rock beach. This is due to the winds on the Lake that pull the sand from an underwater sand bar and push them onto the Eastern Shores of Lake Ontario. This beach is part of the most extensive freshwater dune system in all of New York. The dunes at this beach are protected, and visitors are asked not to climb them.
We also noticed that there is a massive amount of shells on this beach. Honestly, I have never seen more shells anywhere, including the ocean. The sandy beach and warm lake water make this place almost appear tropical. There is no swimming here, but we did enjoy walking through the waves and feeling the warm, squishy sand under our feet. The really amazing part was that this beach was completely deserted. We could basically walk forever and not see another person. If you are searching for a place for a romantic beach walk, El Dorado Beach Preserve is the perfect place.
Bird Watching
The rocky portion of the beach is off-limits to people from May 15th – to September 30th to protect the nesting areas of the shorebirds. However, there is a bird blind off the main trail that will let you see the birds without disturbing them. The sign that alerts visitors to this is not exactly centrally located, and if you don’t see it off to the side, which I’m sure many people don’t, you might be tempted to walk to the rocky area of the beach.
There are loads of birds to see when visiting, not just on the shore but along the trail. There are shorebirds, waterfowl, and songbirds throughout the park. The park is also a stopover for many migratory birds, such as flycatchers, warblers, vireos, and sparrows, that visit from early August through early October.
Visiting El Dorado
Address: Grand Jean Rd, Henderson
El Dorado Beach Preserve is open year round but the park is closed during rifle season from October 22-December 4
Google Map Link
Have you visited El Dorado Beach Preserve before? What did you think? Did you see any interesting animals or birds? We would love to hear from you. Please leave us a comment below.