This is an Earthcache – as such, there is no physical cache. Instead after examining the dynamic landscape around Baltimore Boulevard, you will answer 4 questions, message me the answers, and post a photo. This cache is placed in a National Park, so depending on when you are visiting here, there is a FEE to drive onto the park.

Assateague Island is constantly shifting between the sand and the sea, because the dynamic nature of barrier Island is to Roll Over. Here the roll over is migrating 2 to 3 feet a year towards the mainland.

While gentle waves will nourish the beach, stiffer waves scour the shoreline. These waves don’t come head on either! They approach obliquely and push the sand southward. During big storms, large waves wash over the island and carry sediment. Large storms also cut in Inlets, which tend to add bulk to the landward side making the island wider.

Problems arise when people start building barrier islands, because eventually the island will migrate out from underneath. Before it became a national seashore in 1965, Assateague Island was on its way to becoming a private resort like nearby Ocean City. This resort was to be called Ocean Beach, and in the1950’s the developer had already sold 5,000 private lots for building homes. They even paved a 15-mile road down the center of the island and named Baltimore Boulevard.

In 1962 the powerful storm destroyed the island’s few buildings and ripped apart its roads. It was then that folks realized that this island was too unstable to build on, and they ended up selling the land to the United States government.

These days the NPS now takes in account the movement of the island with no permanent dwellings constructed or roads on the island. For instance, the lot at the posted parking coordinates is not paved, but instead is made up from permeable materials like clay and clamshell.

Instead of using traditional brick and mortar buildings, the park has invested in structures that could be picked up and repositioned in step with the evolving beach. So now if a storm is coming, every amenity can be taken apart and moved. Even the toilets can be picked up by a forklift and be quickly relocated. These structures are powered by solar, so there is no need to replace power lines or worry the moving landscape will damage underground utilities.

Standing at the posted coordinates you will find a remnant of that 1950’s Ocean Beach resort, the remains of Baltimore Boulevard. Some of this 15-mile road was removed by the park to restore ecosystems, but other sections of the road remain. Today Baltimore Boulevard is primarily used by birds to crack open clams, to be an oddity to intrigue hikers along the Life of the Dunes Trail, and now to allow us curious earthcachers to witness the effect on how roll-over and over wash can destroy man-made structures on the island.

The "asphalt" of this location is not moving on its own, but is part of the island's dynamic landscape being shifted and revealed by natural coastal processes. Over time you can see how the pavement gets covered by migrating sand and sediment and then uncovered again as the island continues its landward migration. Hence the cache page title "Where This Island is Going, We Don't Need Roads!"

Looking at what is left of Baltimore Boulevard you can see why you can't drive the entire length of the island today. Island hoppers have to travel across the mainland to go between the Maryland and Virginia parts of Assateague.

LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:

To log this Earthcache: Read the geology lesson above, observe the granite here at the posted coords, answer all four questions below, and take a photo at the site. Easy, peasy. Answers can be sent via e-mail or messenger contacts on my Geocaching profile, just do it within a reasonable time. Group answers are fine. I just aske that whom ever sends those answers should pretty please include all the members of the group AND it would be super nice if each person logging could reference the geocacher who sent the answers in their log."

QUESTION 1. Your first impression of looking at Baltimore Boulevard, does it appear
A. To be pushed up and out of the sand below
B. The island is sinking, the sand is eroding away from the road.
C. That park service people are out cleaning off the sand off weekly to preserve this oddity for tourists.
D. Some other first impression. Explain...

QUESTION 2. During your visit, estimate how high up the top Baltimore Boulevard from the sand below? (You should be at the section of road the left of the information sign. This is featured in my selfie below!)

QUESTION 3. Is the sand level the same on both sides of the road? What does this tell you about how the island is migrating?

QUESTION 4. Looking at trees, fence posts and other landmarks along the Dunes Trail. Did you see any other signs of island migration? Explain.

REQUIRED PHOTO: Posting a photo in your log readily indicates that you (and anyone else logging the find) are at the memorial. You do not have to show your face, but the photo should be personalized by you, your hand, or a personal item with Baltimore Boulevard. NOTE: Per published Earthcache guidelines, this requirement is REQUIRED to claim the find. I will also except photos sent to me in the message center for those of you who prefer privacy.

Awesnap has earned GSA's highest level:

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