Exploring the Water Trails of Saxis, Virginia

Two people looking into a net near the water.

Laura Scharle

Saxis is a small waterman’s town located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, just a stone’s throw from the Maryland border. Just several miles to the northwest is Crisfield, Maryland, but it takes about an hour to drive between the two towns as they are divided by Pocomoke Sound. Saxis is technically an island, separated from the mainland by a wide salt marsh, but you won’t need a boat to visit, as a causeway supports Saxis Road, providing access for vehicles to reach the island. The salt marsh is protected land, as most of it is a designated Wildlife Management Area under Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources.

There are several water trails that meander in and around the Saxis area. There are three areas to launch that are all in very close proximity to the town: a boat ramp at the end of Hammock Road (a slight detour as you approach town), a soft launch off of Matthews Road, and the main public boat ramp at Saxis harbor.  This launch almost felt luxurious, with interpretive signage, a picnic pavilion, water fountain, and clean, flushing toilets!

Aside from the restrooms, a fishing pier, and an excellent restaurant, the rest of the waterfront in Saxis is a working waterfront, loaded with shedding shacks, piles of crab pots, oyster cages and numerous workboats owned by the watermen that live nearby. When you’re in Saxis, you are immersed in the local, Chesapeake culture of working the water.

While paddling, you can see great egrets strutting in the shallow waters, clapper rails laughing from their hiding spots in the marsh, osprey diving for fish, bald eagles soaring above, black skimmers skimming the water’s surface and several species of sandpipers and sanderlings flitting around the sandy beaches.

The Saxis Wildlife Management Area (WMA) allows primitive camping as long as you get an access permit in advance. There are a few small beaches within the WMA that are suitable for camping, but be sure to study the map to ensure you don’t set up camp on private land. It’s important to note that Tunnels Island is privately owned, so if the extensive sandy beaches are luring you in, stay below the high tide line.

You can also consider a day trip out of the launches within the WMA, Marsh Market and Cattail Creek. Both launches feel like they’re a world away from civilization and the vast, open salt marshes provide a quiet escape, even if you only have a few hours to spare. No matter what section of Saxis you decide to paddle, check out the handy, interactive maps on Virginia Water Trails before you go!

If paddling isn’t for you, you can visit the Saxis Island Museum, “created to help preserve the history of Saxis Island and to document the lives of the people that made a living on the island and in the surrounding waters of the Chesapeake Bay.”