Editing Cape Charles, Virginia (section)

==Recreation==
The town owns one of two public beaches on the Eastern Shore of [[Virginia]], and the only public beach on the bayside of the Eastern Shore. The beach extends one-half mile along Bay Avenue with a paved walkway bordering the length of the beachfront. Residents and visitors of the town use the beach for swimming, sunbathing, and similar recreational pursuits. Public access onto the beachfront is provided by two wooden walkovers located near the end of Tazewell and Randolph Avenues, as well as the town's Fun Pier which also has a wooden walkover. The beach is stabilized with buried groins and a bulkhead. In 1987 the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the harbor and channel and deposited the sand along the beach area, which greatly expanded the width of the beach and improved the quality of sand along the beachfront. [[Coastal erosion|Beach erosion]] is an ongoing problem and will require sand replenishment on a periodic basis in order to maintain a sandy beachfront.<ref name=northampton/>

Adjacent to the public beach is a municipal pier which extends across the stone jetty at the entrance of the harbor. The wooden pier, which is known as the Fun Pier, has a railed siding and several built-in benches, and is frequently utilized by Town residents and visitors for sightseeing. Cape Charles is also home to one of six public boat ramp sites in [[Northampton County, Virginia|Northampton County]], and one of only three sites on the County's Bayside.<ref name=northampton/>

The nearby 29-acre Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve, owned by [[Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation]], has a long boardwalk that traverses several natural communities, including a Maritime Loblolly Pine Forest, and ends at a low bluff overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. The preserve provides habitat for the federally threatened northeastern beach tiger beetle and is part of the Lower Delmarva Important Bird Area. During fall bird migration, the forest abounds with migratory songbirds and raptors resting and feeding before continuing their journey across the [[Chesapeake Bay]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/vbwt/sites/cape-charles-and-cape-charles-natural-area-preserve/|title=CES05: Town of Cape Charles & Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve|publisher=Department of Game and Inland Fisheries|access-date=January 1, 2018}}</ref>