Lovells Island sits low and scrubby in the outer harbor, a 62-acre drumlin connected to the mainland only by the red-and-white ferries that chug out from Long Wharf between late spring and early fall. The beach sprawls along the island's southern edge, a mix of sand and smooth stones that shift with each storm, bordered by beach grass that hisses in the salt wind. Behind you, the brick arches and empty gun emplacements of Fort Standish loom like open jaws—built in 1900, abandoned decades ago, now home only to nesting birds and the occasional explorer with a flashlight.
“One of the only beaches in metropolitan Boston where you can legally pitch a tent within sight of the city skyline.”
Credit: FlickrLovells Island Beach — photo by joyosity
The water here is Boston Harbor water: cold, even in August, tinted gray-green by the churn of tides that sweep past twice daily. You'll wade in over rounded rocks worn smooth as river stones, the bottom dropping away gradually, kelp swaying in the shallows. Sailboats tack across the horizon toward Spectacle and Georges islands. Container ships inch toward the port, impossibly large against the low skyline.
Come prepared—there's no snack bar, no lifeguard, no pavilion selling overpriced sunscreen. The island offers 16 primitive campsites in the dunes, pit toilets, a hand pump for water you'll need to treat. Bring everything in, carry everything out. The ferry schedule dictates your day: miss the last boat back, and you're spending the night whether you planned to or not, listening to waves rake the stones and foghorns call across the dark harbor.
