An old Army fort with more than 100 buildings, two National Historic Landmarks, a clothing-optional beach and the ghost of a missile launch pad — all on one skinny barrier peninsula an hour and a half from New York City. Sandy Hook, at the northern tip of the Jersey Shore, is best known for its beaches, but the decommissioned Fort Hancock at its northern end turns a regular sand-and-surf day into something stranger and more interesting.

Fort Hancock opened in 1895 and guarded New York Harbor for nearly 80 years. Its story starts earlier, though: the Sandy Hook Lighthouse beside it dates to 1764, making it the oldest lighthouse in the United States. The site went through several iterations — a wooden fort during the War of 1812, a half-finished Civil War-era construction, then the Sandy Hook Proving Ground where the Army tested new weapons from the 1870s. Concrete gun batteries arrived in the 1890s, and by World War II the barracks held more than 7,000 soldiers. In the 1950s it housed Nike surface-to-air missiles, and it was decommissioned in 1974, open to the public ever since.

Today the National Park Service runs a self-guided walking tour covering 39 of the fort's buildings, from the yellow-brick houses of Officers' Row to the old Guardhouse and Jail, which now holds the Fort Hancock Museum. Climb the lighthouse for a view over the whole peninsula — tours run roughly April through October, and the Visitor Center and museum are open Friday to Monday. Everything sits within the Gateway National Recreation Area, which is open year-round, so history fans don't need to wait for beach season.

The outdoors part is genuinely good. Beach E sits a 15-minute walk from the former Nike missile launch pad; the quiet North Beach near the old proving ground is one of the Shore's least crowded stretches; and Gunnison Beach, about a mile east of the lighthouse, is New Jersey's only legal clothing-optional beach. Hikers can pick up the North Pond or Fishermen's Trail from parking lot M, passing gun batteries before ending at the bay. Birdwatchers head to the Spermaceti Cove Boardwalk observation deck in winter, when the protected marsh nearby draws serious gull numbers.

One genuine safety note: because artillery was test-fired south toward the modern public beaches, unexploded ordnance occasionally turns up in the area. Stick to marked trails, respect closures, and if you spot old metal on the ground, don't touch it — report it to Dispatch.

Getting there is easy: about 90 minutes by car from New York City, two hours from Philadelphia or Atlantic City, and in summer a ferry runs from Manhattan straight to the Sandy Hook Beach Terminal, a short walk from the fort. Bring a bike if you can — reviewers consistently praise the trails — and check the lighthouse tour calendar before you go. It's a rare spot where you can swim, birdwatch and wander through Cold War ruins in a single afternoon.

Story via Islands.