This is a list of boardwalks in the United States by state. Boardwalks can be found around the world, but they are especially common along the East Coast of the United States. One of the earliest and one of the busiest boardwalks was opened on June 26, 1870, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Some pedestrian paths called "boardwalks" are made of concrete. Boardwalks border the beach's sand, and often contain many stores and attractions.
States
Alaska In the Eskimo villages of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, wide heavy-duty boardwalks are common in villages throughout this part of Bush Alaska. Tuntutuliak was the first village to receive boardwalks in the mid-1990s. Its boardwalks were funded by a government program intended to determine whether building boardwalks would be a worthwhile investment elsewhere. Before these boardwalks existed, there was a much narrower, lower, and less extensive system of boards and boardwalks that served delta villages.
California
Newport Beach Newport Beach's boardwalk is a concrete path running from 36th Street to between E and F streets on the Balboa Peninsula. It passes McFadden Square and Newport Pier, and Balboa Pier. The speed limit along the path is in order to prevent conflicts among bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders and rollerbladers.
Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, opened in 1907, is the oldest amusement park in California and the home to two national historic landmarks: the Looff Carousel and the Giant Dipper roller coaster. The Santa Cruz boardwalk no longer actually has any wooden boardwalks.
Venice Beach This 1.5 mile boardwalk in the city of Los Angeles is one of the most well-known boardwalks and has a pedestrian walk, bike path, rollerskater and skateboard ramps, and restaurants and shops. Venice Beach is also famous for Muscle Beach, where bodybuilders work out. Former California governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out on Muscle Beach during the 1980s.
Connecticut
Ocean Beach Park
On the southern coast of New London, Connecticut there is a boardwalk running roughly within Ocean Beach Park that is claimed to have "New England's Finest Sugar Sand Beach and Boardwalk Attractions".
Delaware
Bethany Beach Bethany Beach's boardwalk, while not as long as Rehoboth Beach's, connects the summer seaside resort's broad, sandy beach to motels, restaurants, and vacation homes. In 2011, Bethany Beach banned smoking on the beach and boardwalk.
Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach's long boardwalk connects summer tourists with Rehoboth Beach's main attractions during the summer months, including high-end resorts, numerous shops, arcades, eating establishments and family amusement center. The town's main street, Rehoboth Avenue, intersects with the boardwalk.
Florida
Bay Lake At Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, there is a resort with a boardwalk overlooking an artificial lake.
Daytona Beach
The boardwalk in Daytona Beach is a concrete walkway along the beach and includes stores, restaurants, amusement rides, arcades, the Daytona Beach Pier, and the Daytona Beach Bandshell.
Hollywood Beach Hollywood Beach has a concrete boardwalk known as the "Broadwalk."
John's Pass Village and Boardwalk This boardwalk is quite popular, notably with people from Pinellas County and Hillsborough County, Florida. Popular features include Hubbard's Marina, Hooters and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. There are also various other stores and restaurants on this boardwalk; and the John's Pass Bridge is right next to this location.
Gulf Breeze
A new wetlands trail boardwalk is being constructed in the undeveloped portion of Shoreline Park, west of the existing access roadway to the park. The trail will begin and end in uplands, originating at the existing trail opening south of the dog park and terminating at Williamsburg Drive / Colley Cove Drive. The trail will cross through an environmentally sensitive area utilizing an elevated pile-supported boardwalk and will integrate into existing trail systems. The primary purpose of the trail boardwalk is to increase connectivity between Shoreline Park and the adjacent residential areas to the west. The trail will also provide ADA access to the beach along the Santa Rosa Sound waterfront.
Hawaii
A boardwalk is present on the island of Maui.
Indiana Indiana Beach, Monticello
Louisiana
Lake Charles
Lakefront Casino Boardwalk
Bossier City
Maine Old Orchard Beach has a boardwalk
Maryland
Ocean City This three-mile (5 km) long Ocean City Boardwalk is in downtown Ocean City, Maryland. Located at the eastern end of US 50, it contains a Ripley's Believe it or Not!, as well as arcades, shops, restaurants, hotels, time-shares, and condominiums. The end of the boardwalk hosts Trimper's Rides, an amusement park with roller coasters and a Herschell-Spillman carousel built in 1912, one of the oldest still-operating carousels in the United States. This boardwalk has been rated a top boardwalk in the United States by National Geographic and CNN.
Massachusetts
Sandwich The Sandwich, Massachusetts boardwalk does not, strictly speaking, lead along the beach. Instead, it begins in a parking lot and leads through the salt marshes and out to the beach. It was destroyed in 1991 by Hurricane Bob and was then rebuilt through donations made by the townspeople. In turn, family names were carved into the planks of the boardwalk, and it is still used to this day. The boardwalk crosses a creek, where at high tide, visitors can jump off the bridge into the water.
New Hampshire
Hampton Beach The Hampton Beach boardwalk is frequented by tourists and locals alike. In fact, it is widely used for common shops.
New Jersey
Many of the cities and towns of New Jersey have their own separate boardwalk. A few have a strip along the beach with water rides, including water slides, lazy rivers, wave pools, and amusement parks hosting rides such as roller coasters, carousels, ferris wheels, and teacups.
Asbury Park
Asbury Park's boardwalk was built in 1871, which featured an orchestra pavilion, public changing rooms, and a pier. In 1888, the Palace Amusements building was built, which housed a carousel and numerous other attractions. In 1929, the Convention Hall, Paramount Theater, and Casino building were built. In 1973 The Stone Pony, a famous music venue where musicians like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi launched their careers was built adjacent to the boardwalk. Asbury Park fell on hard times starting in the 1960s, with the boardwalk and city losing numerous businesses and falling into disrepair. The Palace Amusements complex closed in 1988, and was demolished in 2004, although the carousel and the famed Tillie mural were saved. Half of the Casino building was demolished in 2006, although part of it still remains as a rotating art exhibit.
Asbury Park began its revitalization in the 2000s. In 2002, the city released their Waterfront Redevelopment Plan. In 2007, the boardwalk began an extensive restoration process that restored the Convention Hall, Paramount Theater, and numerous pavilions on the boardwalk. There are several hotels adjacent to the boardwalk, such as the LGBT-oriented Empress Hotel and Paradise Nightclub, the Ocean Club Hotel, and the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel. In 2020, the north end of the boardwalk reconstruction project was completed. Revitalization and rehabilitation efforts continue into 2023. The boardwalk connects to the boardwalk of neighboring Ocean Grove to the south.
Atlantic City
The Atlantic City Boardwalk was the first boardwalk in the United States,"The first boardwalk in the world was", Almanac.com] opening on June 26, 1870. The Boardwalk starts at Absecon Inlet and runs along the beach for to the city limit. An additional of the Boardwalk extends into Ventnor City. Casino/hotels front the boardwalk, as well as retail stores, restaurants, and amusements. Several piers extend the boardwalk over the Atlantic Ocean. This boardwalk gained fame due to the board game Monopoly, which was based upon the trading and dealing of real estate in Atlantic City; in the game, Boardwalk is the most expensive property to purchase and develop, but also yields the greatest rent payoffs to its owner. Casinos along the boardwalk include the Tropicana Casino & Resort, Caesars, Bally's, Resorts Casino Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and Ocean Casino Resort. The former casino turned non-gaming hotel Showboat still remains as well. The abandoned Atlantic Club Casino remains on the south end of the boardwalk. There are numerous small stores along the boardwalk too similar to other Jersey Shore boardwalks, as well as the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. Stockton University has its Atlantic City satellite campus located on the south end as well.
In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy destroyed the northern part of the boardwalk fronting Absecon Inlet, in the residential section called South Inlet. The oceanfront boardwalk in front of the Atlantic City casinos survived the storm undamaged.
The Boardwalk has been home to several piers over the years. The first pier, Ocean Pier, was built in 1882. It eventually fell into disrepair and was demolished. Another famous pier built during that time was Steel Pier, opened in 1898, which once billed itself as "The Showplace of the Nation". It now operates as an amusement pier across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Captain John Lake Young opened "Young's Million Dollar Pier" as an arcade hall in 1903, and on the seaward side "erected a marble mansion", fronted by a formal garden, with lighting and landscaping designed by Young's longtime friend Thomas Alva Edison. Young's Million Dollar Pier, Atlantic City's largest amusement pier during its time", was transformed into a shopping mall in the 1980s, known as "Shops on Ocean One". In 2006, the Ocean One mall was bought, renovated and re-branded as "The Pier Shops at Caesars" and, in 2015, it was renamed "Playground Pier." However, in recent years it has become a dead mall, with less than 10 stores remaining. Garden Pier, located opposite Ocean Casino Resort, once housed a movie theater, and was home to the Atlantic City Historical Society and Arts Center before they moved to the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.Atlantic City Experience: 100 Years of the Garden Pier, Atlantic City Free Public Library. Retrieved August 23, 2013. Two other piers, an amusement pier named Steeplechase Pier and a Heinz 57-owned pier named Heinz Pier were destroyed in the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane.Flynn, Ed. "The Heinz Pier in Atlantic City a 'variety' of fun", Northjersey.com, March 7, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013. Steeplechase was rebuilt after the hurricane, and survived into the casino era. The "Steeplechase Pier Heliport" on Steel Pier is named in its honor.Steeplechase Pier Heliport. Retrieved March 10, 2012. The last of the four piers still standing is Schiff's Central Pier, which is the only one still offering the same attractions it did when it opened – a few stores, and the playcade, having reopened in 1990 after an $8 million renovation.Keough, W. F. "CENTRAL PIER RIDES AGAIN / A.C. GETS A FAMILY AMUSEMENT CENTER ", The Press of Atlantic City, June 3, 1990. Retrieved August 23, 2013. "Central Pier, vacant since the dawn of casino gaming, will re-open its doors Saturday in an $8 million effort by its owners to re-create one of the resort's most famous pre-casino attractions – its amusement parks. Visitors who plan to test the rides later this week at the city's oldest pier will be treated to the screaming upside-down rush of a Super Loop, or the musical lure of a merry-go-round by the sea."
Keansburg