10 of the best nude beaches in the US

By Joe Yogerst, CNN

(CNN) – “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is a phrase enshrined in the US Declaration of Independence. But a couple of the Founding Fathers might have considered skinny dipping another inalienable right.

Benjamin Franklin was known to have stripped down to his birthday suit to demonstrate what were apparently exceptional swimming skills.

During his tenure in the White House, John Quincy Adams frequently started his presidential day with a naked soak in the Potomac.

Fast forward more than two centuries, clothing optional resorts and nude beaches can be found across the nation. The American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) endorses more than 180 nudist resorts and clubs, while the Naturist Society lists more than 200 ways the people can dare to bare.

Florida and California — where the “free beach” movement to allow public nudity started in the 1960s — offer the most clothing optional choices, but you can find places to swim nude in nearly every state.

Some nude beaches, swimming holes and hot springs are totally legal, while others are technically illegal but largely tolerated by local authorities. Some places allow topless (but not bottomless) beachgoing while others permit same-sex clothing optional beaches.

Needless to say, it’s always best to check local laws and regulations before stripping at any beach that’s considered clothing optional.

With that in mind, here are 10 of America’s best nude beaches:

Apollo Beach, Florida

Located at the southern end of the coast road in Cape Canaveral National Seashore, Apollo is named for the space program that put American astronauts on the Moon. As a matter of fact, if you time it right, you can watch a rocket launch (from the nearby Kennedy Space Center) in your birthday suit.

One of the last stretches of wild beach left along Florida’s Atlantic shore, Apollo spans more than eight miles. The clothing-optional portion lies at the very southern end, the golden sand beyond Parking Lot No. 5.

Managed by the National Park Service, Apollo is a legal nude beach. The only stipulation is that bathers keep their clothes on until they’re at least 150 yards south of the parking lot. And there are signs warning non-naturists they “may encounter nude sunbathing” beyond Lot. 5.

Black’s Beach, California

One of the nation’s most renowned nude beaches sprawls at the bottom of 300-foot-high cliffs at the bottom of the Torrey Pines Gliderport on the north side of San Diego.

Access is via several steep trails down the cliffs or along the beach at low tide from parking lots at La Jolla Shores or Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

In 1974, Black’s became the nation’s first and only legal nude beach. But that distinction lasted only a few years.

Nowadays, nakedness is verboten on the city-managed south side while clothing is optional on the north side inside the state park boundary.

Collins Beach, Oregon

Despite Oregon’s long and incredibly scenic Pacific coast, the state’s leading nude beach lies on Sauvie Island in the middle of the Columbia River near Portland.

Located in a state-managed wildlife refuge near the island’s top end, Collins has been attracting naturists since the 1970s to its soft river sand, photogenic driftwood and views across the water to Washington State.

Beachgoers need to purchase a parking permit for the island, available at the Cracker Barrel Grocery Mart on the island side of the Sauvie Island Bridge, where you can also buy food and drinks, fishing gear and Oregon Lottery tickets.

Gunnison Beach, New Jersey

Gunnison Beach sprawls along the windward side of the Sandy Hook Peninsula in Gateway National Recreation Area.

Named after an early 20^th-century U.S. Army gun battery that once protected the entrance to New York Harbor, Gunnison is New Jersey’s only legal nude beach. The bare-all section is well marked for those who are liable to blush. Meanwhile, the National Park Service warns that nakedness outside the designated clothing-optional area is considered “disorderly conduct.”

Even in the lightest traffic, the beach is a 90-minute drive from New York City via the Holland Tunnel and New Jersey Turnpike. The fastest way is boarding a Seastreak Ferry in Manhattan for a 35-minute cruise to Sandy Hook pier, then a 20-minute walk across the peninsula to Gunnison.

Haulover Beach, Florida

Sunny Isles on the north side of Miami provides a long, sandy venue for what is probably the nation’s most popular nude beach in terms of pure attendance.

Thousands gather there on holidays and weekends, and Haulover has made several attempts to set a Guinness Record for the most people skinny dipping in one spot.

Because of its urban setting, Haulover is one of the more developed nude beaches. There are public restrooms and showers, umbrella and chair rentals, plus the B&B Haulover Beach Café, which serves up food and drinks.

The beach is deemed family-friendly by the local authorities, and the wider public park is popular for kite-flying and other activities.

Hippie Hollow, Texas

Austin’s freewheeling attitudes spawned a nude beach in the heart of Texas, a rocky shore in Hippie Hollow Park where “nudity is acceptable, lewd behavior is not,” says the official park website. There’s also an age limit: The park bans anyone younger than 18.

With a swim zone and two no-wake zones, Hippie Hollow is an ideal spot for skinny dipping, especially during the summer months when daytime temperatures can reach triple digits.

The colorful name was inspired by naked Flower Children who gathered there in the late 60s and 70s. Lakeshore residents lost a court case to have nakedness banned.

Still, it wasn’t until the county took possession of the lakeshore in 1985 that clothing optional became official at Hippie Hollow.

Moshup Beach, Massachusetts

Framed by multicolored clay cliffs and strewn with wave-splashed boulders, Moshup Beach on Martha’s Vineyard includes both clothing-optional and clothing-required sections along the shore of Aquinnah village on the island’s eastern tip.

Moshup offers one of the Vineyard’s best surfing breaks and those who crawl back into their clothes can visit clifftop attractions like historic Gay Head Lighthouse (built in 1799) and take in exhibits on the island’s original Wampanoag people at the Aquinnah Cultural Center.

The beach and surrounding area are known for exceptional beauty and also serenity. The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe owns the cliffs, which are protected in part by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission.

Pirate’s Cove, California

Located around halfway between the Central Coast communities of Avila Beach and Shell Beach, Pirate’s Cove offers a crescent of sand beside a rocky point with a natural arch called Smuggler’s Cave.

Nobody knows for sure if the beach was a hideout for pirates during pioneer days — or whether or not those buccaneers buried treasure in the sand as per local legends. But bootleggers definitely used Pirate’s Cove to transfer illicit alcohol during Prohibition.

Part of a San Luis Obispo County natural area, the beach is officially clothing optional. Bring a mask and snorkel to investigate the sea life that cluster around offshore rocks and the kelp forest a little farther out. Harbor seals, sea lions and sea otters are among the larger critters that frequent the cove on occasion.

Secret Cove, Nevada

Framed by evergreen trees and spangled with half-submerged boulders surrounded by water that varies from sapphire blue to turquoise and jade, this tiny Lake Tahoe shoreline may be the nation’s most gorgeous nude beach.

However, it’s no longer a secret. Influencers and selfie addicts love the cove. On any given day, the majority of beachgoers are likely those who won’t be sans clothing. Still, it’s up to them to respect the right (and privacy) of those who do bare all.

A 15-minute drive south of Incline Village on the lake’s eastern shore, the cove is located on National Forest land. A small parking lot with a public restroom beside Highway 28 marks the start of a steep, dirt trail to the beach.

Visitors can also access the cove by private boat. There is no dock, so boaters will need to anchor offshore beyond the swim zone.

UFO Beach, Texas

The most remote nude beach on our list, UFO stretches along the Gulf of Mexico on the roadless top half of South Padres Island.

Reaching it entails a backpacking trek or driving overland across the beach, best accomplished with a 4×4 vehicle and the equipment needed to dig yourself out (shovel and bucket) if the vehicle gets stuck. Either way, you also need to pack enough food and water to last your length of stay.

The beach didn’t gain its extraterrestrial nom de plume until after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when a saucer-shaped, oil rig escape pod washed ashore. Covered in ever-changing graffiti, the pod is now one of several impromptu artworks along the shore.

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