Winter Island/Waikiki Beach — Attraction in Salem

Fort Pickering and Fort Pickering Lighthouse

Big or small, I am a lighthouse fan and love to explore old military installations. Thus when we were in the general area for an event, with time to spare, I sought out this location. Being off season, the fall, we knew that it would not be crowded and since the weather was nice we hustled over for a visit and paid the $10/day parking fee.

The fort was small and with little remaining in the form of structures but we knew that in advance as well as is historical significance as being the only harbor not captured during the War for Independence.

There was enough to do to occupy a couple of hours, walking the longer Waikiki Beach, the smaller Pebble Beach, sitting by the Lighthouse, exploring the pier, seeing the harbor master's boat, visiting the souvenir shop in the old Coast Guard hanger and talking to the shopkeeper. .

Neither the park nor the lighthouse can compare in size or beauty to many others along the Eastern Seaboard but the visit was worthwhile and the views were awesome. If we had planned ahead it would have been a fantastic place to have a picnic lunch on one of the beaches or...

Winter Island is absolutely beautiful. This place is definitely one of the top sites around the Salem area to come and visit plus they also have camping. Their outdoor pavilion is perfect for any event, rain or shine. We just had our wedding near the end of September and this was the most perfect place for our Viking theme. The foliage is beautiful all around plus the water view and the covered arbor is breathtaking with its natural greenery and orange flowers. I felt like I was in a fairytale all day long. It rained the whole day of the wedding but the size of the pavilion was perfect to keep everyone dry and the lighting was bright enough well into the night. The function hall is really nice, it's on the smaller side and will probably hold about 60 people and with our wedding of about 80 people it was a little bit cramped due to the rain but well worth having both the function hall and the pavilion for a venue. The staff was incredible and extremely helpful and friendly the entire time. I highly suggest visiting or hosting a party at...

Cute little rv park right near the water!

Has hook ups for all necessities.

Camp spots ARE on pavement, so no camper lawn, which was not ideal for our dogs. But there were plenty of patches of grass and some trails around an old weapon bunker right on the shoreline to explore.

Rocky beach across from us was easy to get to. There was a sandy beach tucked away rather close, too, that we happened upon while poking around the old moat. Not a secret beach at all, as others were enjoying it, but one we didnt see from our campsite.

Bathrooms were a little sketchy- the shower area was through a different door than the restrooms, and there were only 2 toilets. Clean, I guess, but old and weatherworn and small for the number of campers this...