Ipswich’s beautiful and beloved Crane Beach has updated its parking reservation system in an effort to make beach access more equitable for visitors.
Replacing the previous timed reservation system, the Trustees of Reservations, which manages Crane beach, will now release day passes twice a week. Passes for Friday through Monday will be available starting at noon each Thursday. Passes for the remainder of the week will be released on Mondays at noon.
“The Trustees is committed to making our properties welcoming to everyone, and that includes Crane Beach,” says Trustees president and CEO Katie Theoharides. “Spending time on the beach with family and friends is a summer tradition in Massachusetts, and the Day Pass system is intended to help us ensure more people can enjoy this spectacular beach.”
Pricing varies depending on Trustees membership level. Sustaining, Sponsor, or Founder’s Circle Members receive free admission to Crane Beach; other levels of Trustees membership will be charged between $10 and 18 per carload during the week, and between $10 and 20 per carload on the weekends. Rates are further discounted after 4 p.m. on weekdays and weekends in the summer. Trustees’ members arriving on foot or bicycle are admitted for free.
Non-members will be charged $35 per carload on weekdays, $40 on weekends and holidays, and $5 for those arriving on foot or bicycle.
Passes can be booked at thetrustees.org/content/passes.
Visitors can also take the commuter rail to Ipswich station and catch a shuttle bus to the beach. Bus fare is $2 for members and $5 for nonmembers.
The new system is the latest evolution in the beach’s parking strategy. Timed reservations were introduced early in the pandemic as a way to prevent overcrowding and diseased transmission. Last year, the Trustees phased out member parking passes that allowed free admission.
Learn more about Crane Beach at thetrustees.org/place/crane-beach-on-the-crane-estate.