Coastal Access to Connecticut Beaches

 According to NOAA, there are 97,471 miles of shoreline in the United States, but far, far less of this is actually public. Because many more people want access to beaches than own beach-front property, this is a perennial legal problem, largely because it’s a surprisingly ambiguous case of ownership. 

• The Public Trust Doctrine provides access along the shore below the mean high water line, but it does not include the right to cross private property to reach the shore.  Therefore, access to the shore varies greatly, depending on the availability of roads and public paths 

• The right to access tidal waters and shores is well established.  Both access to and ownership of tidal wetlands and beaches is defined by the Public Trust Doctrine.  According to the Doctrine, navigable waters and the underlying lands were publicly owned at the time of statehood and remains so today.