Discover America’s Unique Beaches

Massive, coastal bowling ball–like formations and a charcoal–black beauty are among these nontraditional waterfront attractions

Schooner Gulch State Beach, a.k.a. Bowling Ball Beach, in Mendocino County, California, is one of seven unusual American beauties offering an out-of-the-ordinary beach experience.

Alamy Stock Photo

Berit Thorkelson,

AARP

Published July 17, 2025

They’ve got the typical qualities we appreciate in beaches — tide pools, sunset hikes and a sandy spot to soak in the sunshine. These beach destinations are also the staple of a summer vacation, which is among the top three reasons people 50 and older plan to travel domestically, AARP’s 2025 Travel Trends survey found.

But Mother Nature upped the ante on these select few, using wind and water to create shoreline treasures that double as interactive art. May her work inspire a few tweaks to your summer bucket list.

beachgoers in the sand and ocean at a beach in Hawaii

Hawai’i’s Papakōlea Beach, near South Point on Hawai’i Island, is America’s only green sand beach. It’s one of four green sand beaches in the world.

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Papakōlea Beach (a.k.a. Green Sand Beach), Hawai‘i Island, Hawai‘i

This unique beach is tucked against the volcano that produced it. Pu‘u Mahana’s eruption 49,000 years ago created crystallized magma called olivine, heavy enough to stay put when washed ashore. The mineral lends a green hue to just four beaches in the world, in Norway, Guam, the Galapagos Islands and Hawai‘i.

“We were there on a nice, sunny, beautiful day. And yeah, it’s green,” says Sarah Hawkins Miduski, founder of Obligatory Traveler, a travel site. “It’s almost like there’s gold in the beach. It’s sparkly everywhere, the way the sun hits it.”

The beach is off the beaten path, along the southern tip of Hawai‘i Island, and requires an approximately 2.75-mile, rocky, unshaded hike from the parking lot, though locals run informal, unsanctioned shuttles. The hike to the beach is steep and challenging but short, including rickety stairs and a path carved into rock. Miduski says sturdy shoes are a must.

rocks covered with algae at a beach near a cliffside

Rows of curious concretions along the shore at Schooner Gulch State Beach in California earned it the nickname Bowling Ball Beach.

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Schooner Gulch State Beach (a.k.a. Bowling Ball Beach), Mendocino County, California

Scores of massive, otherworldly spheres are lined up, row after row, as if placed there on purpose along Northern California’s Pacific coastline.

Technically, they are concretions formed when sand cemented around a shell, fossil or other organic object millions of years ago. But they’re known colloquially as the bowling balls.

Getting a great view of them is all about timing. “They’re only visible if the tide is two feet or lower. If it’s more than two feet, you’re not going to see them. Check the tide tables,” says Mark Hancock, 68, who passes the beach on his way to work and comes for a visit at least monthly. He says the beach is a favorite among his grandkids, who comb the alleys — as locals refer to the space between the lines of rounded rock — for sea glass and shimmery abalone shell.

The formations’ appearance changes with the tides, weather and seasons, their brownish-gray sandstone sometimes covered in seaweed or dark green moss. “They’re beautiful,” Hancock says. “It’s just an amazing geological phenomenon.”

trees giving way to black sand at Black Beach

Charcoal-black sand, a decades-old byproduct of area mining, makes Black Beach near Silver Bay a standout among the rocky beaches of Lake Superior in Minnesota.

Alex Kormann/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa USA/Alamy

Black Beach, Silver Bay, Minnesota

For worse, then for better, an area mining company gets credit for this sandy standout along the rocky beaches of Lake Superior’s North Shore.

Before more eco-friendly measures were put in place, the Great Lake pulverized the company’s iron ore processing waste into charcoal-black sand. Then, in 2015, the mining company negotiated a long-term lease with the city, allowing public access to the stunning destination, formerly frequented only by local trespassers.

Now, there’s a small, dedicated parking lot and a short, wooded trail punctuated by a black-beach view. “It’s kind of fun when you bring people down there and they walk that trail. You see the lake ... and it’s like, ‘Wow.’ That’s pretty much everybody’s opinion,” says City Administrator Lana Fralich, who grew up on the North Shore by the beach and helped make it public.

Lisa Meyers McClintick, 56, a Minnesota-based travel writer and author of Day Trips From the Twin Cities, is a regular visitor. “The dark sand contrasts with white birch by the picnic tables, deep blue water and bright orange lichen that blankets the rock formations splitting the beach into two coves,” she says. “The view never disappoints.”

the cliffside at Chimney Bluffs State Park

Visitors to Chimney Bluffs State Park score views of weather-sculpted drumlins on Lake Ontario in upstate New York.

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Chimney Bluffs State Park, Wolcott, New York

When the last round of glaciers retreated, they left behind earthen detritus that formed into clusters of teardrop-shaped hills, called drumlins, along the shores of Lake Ontario. Waves and weather sculpted the set in the park that’s now named for them. Park hikes offer two equally compelling views.

The popular East-West Trail takes you along the bluff top. “It’s a killer viewing point for sunsets,” says Alisha Warrick, who grew up within a mile of the park and works at Chimney Bluffs, a sister park up the shore.

A set of stairs near the East Bay Road entrance delivers you to a view from the shore. The tallest pinnacles reach higher than 100 feet — and are dwindling — as the erosion that shaped the bluffs continues.

“It’s never in the same experience, because they’re ever-changing,” Warrick says. “And that’s part of the beauty, right?”

beachgoers walking at Oregon’s Cannon Beach with Haystack Rock in the distance

Haystack Rock is the star of Oregon’s Cannon Beach, shown here at sunset between storms. Visitors can walk right up to the sea stack during low tide.

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Cannon Beach, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Haystack Rock, the hulking, 235-foot coastline sea stack, may look familiar: It’s been an on-screen standout in movies such as The Goonies.

Tectonic shifts, winds and crashing waters separated Haystack Rock from the mainland millions of years ago. Since then, it’s defined the Oregon coastline, drawing visitors for the natural beauty it exudes and supports.

During low tide, visitors can navigate the protected marine garden tide pools and observe sea stars, crabs and giant green anemones, all the way up to the giant rock. Among the other high-profile highlights, depending on the season: tufted puffins breeding and summering atop the rock and migrating whales passing by. Bring your binoculars.

tree branches stick out of the sand at a beach

Weather-worn trees earned Boneyard Beach, in Big Talbot Island State Park near Jacksonville, Florida, its name.

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Boneyard Beach, Big Talbot Island State Park, Jacksonville, Florida

It’s easy to love the unbroken expanse of palm-ringed sand that the bulk of Florida beaches reliably deliver. That expectation is part of what makes this three-mile waterside stretch of Nassau Sound, strewn with sun-bleached, salt-washed oak and cedar “skeletons,” all the more intriguing.

“Eerily beautiful,” says Susan B. Barnes, a 53-year-old Florida-based travel writer. “It’s hard to imagine the power of the ocean to toss fully grown trees onto the beach, where they sink into the sand and make their homes until the next storm comes along.”

These fallen soldiers await at the end of a short, easy hike. The downed trees protect the trees still standing from wind and waves, in addition to making a fine photo backdrop and, for some, a lo-fi playground. “Think of it as nature’s jungle gym,” Barnes says.

The sands sing at Michigan’s Ludington State Park. Big Sable Point Lighthouse is among the park’s accessible Lake Michigan shoreline draws.

Danita Delimont/Alamy

Ludington State Park Beach, Ludington, Michigan

Singing, or musical, sands are found on beaches, dunes and deserts around the world, including in Egypt and China and on beaches surrounding Lake Michigan. Among them: Ludington, part of 12 miles of connected Great Lakes public beach on the lake’s east shore.

The sand must be worn uniformly round and contain plenty of silica. Add in dry weather and friction, such as wind or footsteps, and you’ve got the phenomenon known as “singing.”

“It’s more of a squeaking sand,” says Ludington State Park Manager Jim Gallie. He recommends heading to the less developed areas of the beach, where the sand is still pristine, to experience it.

Those remote areas are accessible to all, thanks to the park’s action track wheelchairs, which are free to rent (reservations recommended). The wheelchairs can go to the dunes and the 1867 lighthouse, where Great Lakes freighters pass by and the ocean-like freshwater lake meets the sky in the distance.

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Berit Thorkelson is a travel writer and editor for aarp.org. She has also written for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens and The Minnesota Star-Tribune's travel section.

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