Naturism in United States

Public Nudity Laws

Comprehensive guide to public nudity laws, regulations, and penalties

Topless Sunbathing Laws

Is it legal to sunbathe topless? Country-by-country legal guide

Indecent Exposure Laws

What constitutes indecent exposure and the penalties in each country

Age Restrictions

Legal age requirements for nudity, naturist venues, and events

Photography Laws

Legal requirements for photographing nude subjects and naturist activities

Naturist Venue Regulations

Legal requirements for nudist resorts, clubs, and venues

Event Permits & Licensing

Requirements for organizing nudist events and gatherings

Baker Beach is a roughly half-mile sweep of sand in the Presidio on San Francisco's western shore, running south from Golden Gate Point, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area run by the National Park Service. The far northern end, closest to the Golden Gate Bridge and below the serpentine bluffs, is where clothing-optional sunbathers traditionally gather; the National Park Service itself notes this. The rest of the beach is a mixed public beach used by families, dog walkers, photographers and picnic groups, so the dividing line matters: nude visitors keep to the north end and cover up before walking back toward the parking lot and picnic area. The beach has coarse sand, cold water and a big Pacific swell, with strong undertow and rip currents that make swimming unsafe. The view of the bridge from the nude end is one of the best in the city. Historic Battery Chamberlin, a 1904 coastal gun battery, sits behind the beach, and the north end was the original site of Burning Man from 1986 to 1990. Fog is common in summer; the warmest, clearest days tend to come in September and October.

Blind Creek Beach is on South Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County, on Florida's Atlantic coast, about eight miles south of Fort Pierce along A1A and immediately north of the St. Lucie nuclear power plant. It is part of the county's Blind Creek park, and on June 2, 2020 the St. Lucie County Commission officially designated a section of it, about 36 acres, as clothing-optional, the county's first. Naturists had used it for decades before that. The designated nude stretch runs for more than a mile between two parking areas, and visitors can continue south along the shore below the high-water line past the power plant property for a much longer walk. The beach is natural and undeveloped: soft sand, sea oats and dunes with no buildings, no shade, no lifeguards and no vendors. It draws a relaxed mix of local naturist regulars, couples and visitors, and the Treasure Coast Naturists group supports the beach.

Collins Beach is a mile-long sandy beach on the Columbia River shore of Sauvie Island, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Portland, inside the 12,000-acre Sauvie Island Wildlife Area run by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. It sits at milepost 11 on Reeder Road, a quarter mile past where the pavement ends, and is one of Oregon's two official clothing-optional beaches (the other is Rooster Rock). The clothing-optional area runs for about 1,400 feet south of the private-property signs at the north boundary; ODFW asks nude users to stay inside the posted limits, and straying onto the clothed North Unit Beach next door has caused complaints from landowners. The beach is fine river sand backed by cottonwoods, with views of passing cargo ships and across to Washington. River levels change the beach width through the year, and in early summer snowmelt can leave it narrow. Ship wakes can be strong. It draws a relaxed, local mix of regulars, couples and groups of friends, and has been used by nudists since at least the 1970s.

Denny Blaine Park is a small, roughly two-acre park on the western shore of Lake Washington in Seattle's Denny-Blaine neighbourhood, surrounded by some of the city's most expensive homes. It is Seattle's best-known nude beach and has been a gathering place for nonsexual nudity for decades. The 'beach' is a grassy lawn rather than sand, sloping down to an old stone wall that marked the lakeshore before the Lake Washington Ship Canal lowered the lake by about nine feet in 1917; people sunbathe on the grass and swim off the wall into fresh water. There is no lifeguard. Since 2025 the park has been formally split: a fenced lower area by the water is signed clothing-optional, while the area west of the fence, by the entrance, is clothing-required. The park is also an important space for Seattle's queer, transgender and gender-diverse community, which the City Council recognised by resolution. A volunteer group, Friends of Denny Blaine, publishes behaviour guidelines and asks visitors to keep it 'nude, not lewd'. Expect a busy, social crowd on warm summer afternoons and a quieter scene early in the day.

Gunnison Beach is the ocean beach at Area G on Sandy Hook, the New Jersey unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, near the historic Fort Hancock at the northern tip of the peninsula. It is the largest and best-known nude beach in the northeastern US, used by naturists since the late 1970s, and on hot summer weekends it can draw several thousand people. The National Park Service describes it as clothing-optional; its wider guidance says the traditional nude-use area is part of Area G (South Gunnison) and that nudity outside that zone may be treated as disorderly conduct. The beach is broad, soft sand facing the Atlantic, with views north to the Verrazzano Bridge and Manhattan's skyline across Lower New York Bay. The crowd is diverse in age, ethnicity and orientation. Since about 2021 the park has banned alcohol on all Sandy Hook beaches and limited tents and screens, after complaints about loud music and partying; regulars report a calmer atmosphere since. There are no lifeguards at Gunnison.

Haulover Beach is the oceanfront of Haulover Park, a Miami-Dade County park on the barrier island between Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles Beach, just north of Baker's Haulover Inlet. The northern 0.4 mile of its 1.5-mile shoreline, between lifeguard towers 12 and 16, is an officially recognised clothing-optional beach, marked by snow fencing and permanent signs at each end. A local naturist group started using the area in 1991 and the county put up official signs in 1993. It is often described as the busiest nude beach in the US. The sand is golden and wide, the water warm and usually calm, and the beach has year-round lifeguards, which is rare for a nude beach. The county markets it as family-oriented, and the crowd is very mixed: local naturist families, couples, tourists from Europe and South America, and a strong gay presence toward the north end. Volunteer beach ambassadors in green safari hats explain etiquette. Condo towers rise immediately north, so it is anything but secluded.

Alpenglow Ranch is a clothing-optional bed and breakfast and small resort near Bend in central Oregon, listed with AANR and the Clothing Optional Home Network. Guests stay in the house and can relax nude around the grounds with views toward the Cascades, using Bend as a base for high-desert hiking and hot springs trips. Booking ahead is required.

Arcadia Romantic Getaway is a small, couples-oriented naturist retreat in the rural community of Arcadia, near Shelton in Mason County. The fenced six-acre property has gardens, a pool and a hot tub, and the owner screens visitors, so guests must call ahead. Day passes are available during a summer season that runs roughly from Memorial Day through September. Coordinates mark the Arcadia community, not the exact gate.

A large multi-cultural bathhouse on the Hunters Point hillside in San Francisco, combining a Russian banya, a Turkish hammam and Finnish-style saunas, with a rooftop deck overlooking the bay. The owners actively encourage clothing-optional bathing. A designated part of the ground-floor bathing area is always clothing-optional, the whole banya floor becomes clothing-optional every evening after 6 pm, and some sessions are men-only or women-only. Guests must be 18 or older, except on family days.

Arizona Sunburst Inn is a small guesthouse in Uptown Phoenix, close to the Melrose District, that welcomes men only. The shared areas, including a heated pool set among palms, shaded patios cooled by misters, a cabana and a hot tub, are clothing optional, so guests can sunbathe and swim nude. A handful of individually decorated rooms are offered and a continental breakfast is served each morning. Listings report it opens all year; confirm rates, room count and availability directly with the inn before booking.

Arroyo del Sol is a small clothing-optional bed and breakfast in a 1940s-style home on the Altadena-Pasadena border at the edge of Arroyo Seco Canyon. It sits next to a trailhead into the Angeles National Forest, and guests can relax nude at the house. It has been part of the Clothing Optional Home Network. Confirm current availability with the owners.

Avalon is a privately owned clothing-optional resort near Paw Paw in Hampshire County, in the mountains of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, about two hours west of Washington, D.C. It was founded around 1995 by Phyllis and Patrick Gaffney, who still run it, and celebrated its 30th anniversary with a gala in 2025. A 2025 newspaper feature reprinted by AANR gives it about 250 rolling acres; listings elsewhere give smaller figures. Accommodation ranges from open tent camping and RV sites to bunkhouses, cabins, lodge rooms and rental condos, and some members live on site year-round; an adjoining development, Somerset, is a separate clothing-optional community. Facilities include an indoor pool and a seasonal outdoor pool, hot tubs, saunas, a fitness room, a restaurant and bars, pickleball courts, hiking and jogging trails, a library with a naturism section, a community garden and a memorial orchard. Nudity is the norm but clothing is optional; public sexual activity and photography in common areas are banned. The crowd is mostly older couples, many retired from military or government jobs, with some families. It also hosts Avalonfest, a music and crafts festival in August.

Avatan is a member-run family nudist club and campground in East Bethel, about 30 minutes north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and calls itself Minnesota's largest and oldest nudist club, operating since 1961. It occupies about 40 acres of rolling woodland and is a state-licensed campground affiliated with the American Association for Nude Recreation. Facilities include a large pool, a kids' pool, a hot tub, a sauna, a clubhouse, a playground, volleyball, pétanque and horseshoe courts, an RC car raceway, walking trails and an off-leash pet area. Visitors can come for the day or stay in cabins, on RV sites with hookups or on tent sites. The season runs from May through September. Clothing is optional across most of the grounds, but nudity is required in the pool area. Every guest and member must pass a background check before admission, first-time visitors take a guided tour of the grounds in the nude, and photography and video are banned, with removal for anyone who breaks the rule. The club stresses a non-sexual, family atmosphere.

Bar S Ranch is a privately run clothing-free resort on a former cattle ranch in the hills outside Reidsville, in Rockingham County, north of Greensboro. Its 2026 season was its 37th, so it dates from about 1990. The property covers about 300 acres of woods and meadows with a seven-acre stocked lake for fishing and miles of trails for hiking, biking and golf carts. Many members own cabins along the road and in an area called The Meadow, and a press feature reported 26 cabins rented year-round; visitors can use an RV park in The Woods with water and electric hookups or pitch a tent. There is a pool near the clubhouses, a large clubhouse used for parties, potlucks, ping pong and pool, and a smaller clubhouse with a member-maintained kitchen, air-conditioned TV area and Wi-Fi. The ranch's members come mostly from the Triad and Triangle cities. It is a rustic, social place rather than a polished resort, and the office keeps seasonal hours, closing for the winter.

Bare Acres Retreat is a small, private clothing-optional campground near Livonia in Putnam County, in the quiet farm country of northern Missouri close to the Iowa line. It offers grassy tent sites and a few RV spots, and the emphasis is on low-key community meals and evenings around the campfire rather than resort facilities. Space is limited, so reservations are required. Confirm the house rules and who is welcome, whether couples, singles or families, before visiting.