If you're spending a day at American Beach, Burney Park on Gregg Street is where you'll find the restrooms and showers. It's a Nassau County beachfront park, and the National Park Service sends American Beach visitors here for restrooms because most of the historic neighborhood around it is private land. The county's listing for the park shows showers inside and out, picnic tables, and fishing allowed.
In season, Fernandina Beach Ocean Rescue staffs one lifeguard stand here, and the county has installed a lightning prediction and warning system. Burney is also one of four primary beachfront parks the county plans to improve under its Beach Harmonization program, listed last in the order of work.
The county's beach ordinance covers this stretch, and a few rules are worth knowing before you unload the car:
- Leashed dogs are welcome, as long as you pick up after them.
- Alcohol isn't allowed on the beach or in the parking area, and neither are glass containers.
- Chairs, tents, umbrellas and other gear left on the sand between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. can be removed and thrown away. The main exception is stacked furniture kept off the dunes and at least 10 feet from any turtle nest.
- Beach fires are banned from May 1 through October 31, and horse trailers can't park in the lot.
For the story of the community this park serves, read the American Beach entry. If the sand is all you're after, Scott Road is a county drive-on access to the north.
If you own a house near the beach here, sea turtle season (May 1 through October 31) comes with county lighting rules. Beachfront, pool and cabana lights stay off, outdoor fixtures should use amber, yellow or red bulbs, and blinds get drawn after dark. When you close up for the season, departure services include a final check of lights and locks. The American Beach area page covers the rest of owning here.