we went there at about noon in a summer time, the parking lot of sand beach is full, but you can park along the road, we went there during the day time to take a look, take a few pictures. We also went there at night to attend a ranger-led program which is taking about the stars. It may be a good place to see stars at night if the sky is clear. Sand beach is also the starting point of Great Head trail.

We came here a few times. Parking is limited in the lot, but street parking along Park Loop Road makes it easy to access even at high use times. The bathhouse/changing rooms and foot washing station were helpful. I appreciated the water bottle filling station, too! Take a cooler some beach chairs and spend a few hours! The water is cool (around 55 degrees in July) but refreshing after a hike! When the tide is high be aware that the west side (closest to the staircase) is quite rocky and your likely to hit underwater formations if playing in the water. The National Park Rangers do a free stargazing event T/Th/Sat which is totally worth attending! It starts around 9:30pm, but arrive an hour early for the best parking since no reservations are required. Do Not forget your bug spray. You’ll want a towel/mat to place on the sand and a blanket for atop yourself. Leave the devices at home and come gaze at the sky in a whole new way! When we attended the forecast predicted it to be misty and foggy, but it ended up being one of the clearest night skies our ranger had seen in years. (She said it was in the “top ten” for stargazing nights since she became a ranger several years before.)

There was a small parking lot next to the changing rooms and bathrooms at the stairway entrance. The majority of the people park on the road and have to walk quite a distance to get to the entrance and then haul everything to the beach. The sand was nice and the cold water was beautiful.

We started our park loop road at 830 in the morning to avoid crowds and it was our first stop. Sand Beach is one of the first major stops along Park Loop Road. This is a scenic beach that is known for its white-sand shoreline and turquoise water. what a clean, soothing, and beautiful beach it is. fall color, hills in the backdrop of turquoise water making it so photogenic. there are 10-20 stairs to go to the beach, I did not see a wheelchair ramp though. there are some walking trails (Which we did not go to). Walk the Great Head Trail or cross Park Loop Road and hike the thrilling Beehive Trail. There are also restrooms and water fill-up stations in the parking lot for visitors. Parking: as it was morning time, we easily got parking. or you can park here and walk to Thunder Hole and Otter Cliff but its 2 miles up and down.