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Massachusetts - Walking and Hiking in Cape Cod

Ashumet Holly Wildlife Sanctuary
Off Nathan Ellis Highway
East Falmouth, MA  02536
Phone: 781-259-9500
Toll-Free: 800-AUDUBON

Hours: May-August, daily, dawn to dusk. Fee charged.

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This preserve features groves of holly, as well as a colony of barn swallows. Sixty-five varieties of holly trees are planted throughout the sanctuary. Self-guided trails take visitors through the sanctuary.



Cape Cod National Seashore Eastham MACape Cod National Seashore
Salt Pond Visitor Center at Nauset Road and Route 6
Eastham, MA  02642
Phone: 508-255-3421

Open: Daily, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (longer during the summer)

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Forty miles of pristine sandy beach, marshes, ponds, and uplands support diverse species. Lighthouses, cultural landscapes, and wild cranberry bogs offer a glimpse of Cape Cod’s ways of life. Swimming beaches and walking and biking trails beckon visitors. The park's six oceanside swimming beaches have life guards from late June through August. Eleven self-guided nature trails are open year-round. Parking lots are open year-round, daily, 6 a.m. to midnight.
Salt Pond Visitor Center is Cape Cod National Seashore's main visitor facility, with orientation movies, a bookstore, a museum, and restrooms. The Visitor Center is also convenient to the popular 1.5-mile Nauset Marsh Trail and the Buttonbush Trail, a quarter-mile trail that features a guide rope and text panels in Braille, and the Nauset Bicycle Trail.
The Province Lands Visitor Center is located on Race Point Road, off Route 6, at the northern end of Cape Cod National Seashore, approximately one mile from Provincetown. It is open May 1 through October 31, daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Phone number is 508-487-1256. The observation deck at this Visitor Center provides a 360-degree view of the Province Lands dunes, the Outer Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. Exhibits about local plants and animals and the Pilgrim's landing in Provincetown are featured.
Other highlights of the National Seashore are the Fort Hill Area off Route 6(Eastham); the Coast Guard and Nauset Light beaches, Nauset and Three Sisters Lighthouses off Route 6 (Eastham); the Marconi Station Site(Wellfleet); the Highland Lighthouse (Cape Cod Light) and Highland House (Truro); and the Old Harbor Life-Saving Station (Provincetown).



Captain Bangs Hallet House
11 Strawberry Lane (off Route 6A)
Yarmouth Port, MA  02675
Phone: 508-362-3021

Open: June 1 through October 15, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

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The original part of this Greek Revival sea captain's house was built in 1740. A century later, additional portions of the house were built. The kitchen has its original 1740 brick beehive oven and butter churn. A nice collection of china, pewter, maritime artifacts, and clothing from the sea captain era are displayed here. The 50 acre property has nature trails. Open throughout the summer on select afternoons.



Green Briar Nature Center
6 Discovery Hill Road
East Sandwich, MA  02537
Phone: 508-888-6870

Open: January-March, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; April-December, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, 1-4 p.m.

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Located on the shores of Smiling Pool and adjacent to the famous Briar Patch of Thornton Burgess’s stories, Green Briar offers interpreted nature trails and a spectacular wild flower garden. Adjacent to Green Briar is the 57-acre Briar Patch Conservation Area, home of Peter Rabbit and many of the other Thornton Burgess animal characters. Walking trails are open to the public. Admission by donation.



Lowell Holly Mashpee & Sandwich MALowell Holly
South Sandwich Road
Mashpee & Sandwich, MA  02563
Phone: 508-679-2115

Open: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset

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Lowell Holly’s 135 acres feature stands of a wide variety of holly trees, rhododendrons, and mountain laurel, but the property’s most intriguing feature may be its two peninsular knolls, jutting into Mashpee Pond and Wakeby Pond. Both vantage points offer spectacular views over these large ponds. Mashpee and Wakeby ponds are renowned for their exceptional trout, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, and bluegill. Four miles of carriage paths and footpaths connect all points of interest, including two small sandy beaches. Activities at the reservation include swimming, fishing, boating, bicycling, birdwatching, hiking, food concessions, restrooms, bathhouses, and wheelchair access. Year-round parking area is free to all. Seasonal parking area is available Memorial Day through Labor Day. Fee is $6 per car or motorcycle. Boat landing fee is $6 for daily landing fee or $40 for seasonal permit.



Mashpee River Reservation Mashpee MAMashpee River Reservation
Quinaquisset Avenue and Meetinghouse Road
Mashpee, MA
Phone: 508-679-2115

Open: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset

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Two miles of trails wind through Mashpee River Reservation to a pristine shoreline. Natural spawning areas and excellent water quality make the Mashpee River one of Massachusetts' finest sources of sea-run brook trout. The Reservation's woodland and shoreline trails form a link in the Cape Cod Pathways trail system, and offer excellent opportunities for bird watching and cross-country skiing.



Nickerson State Park Brewster MANickerson State Park
Route 6A
Brewster, MA  02631
Phone: 508-896-3491

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Travel to the upper campgrounds in Nickerson State Park, you may think that you have been transported to the Berkshire Hills or the piney woods of the Carolinas. Nowhere are the sand dunes and salt marshes usually associated with Cape Cod. Instead, you are surrounded by woods that slope down to the banks of eight crystal clear fresh water ponds, known as kettle ponds.
Nickerson's 1,900 acres offer 420 campsites, yurt camping, an amphitheater, eight miles of roads, hiking trails, an eight-mile bike path that connects to the 25-mile Cape Cod Rail Trail, and ponds stocked year-round with trout. Cape Cod Bay is within walking or bicycling distance. You can swim and canoe at Flax Pond; birdwatch or catch-and-release fish at Higgins Pond; or join the interpretive and recreational programs offered by park staff.
Park amenities include: beaches, camping, fishing, picnicking, restrooms, bike paths, nonmotorized boating, boat ramp, yurt camping, canoeing, hiking, horseback riding trails, mountain biking, showers, cross-country skiing, swimming, trailer and RV dumping, walking trails.



Shawme-Crowell State Forest
Route 130
Sandwich, MA  02563
Phone: 508-888-0351

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This quiet year-round campground at the beginning of Cape Cod has more than 285 sites in a wooded setting. More than 15 miles of roads and trails provide hiking and equestrian access to more than 700 acres of pitch pine and scrub oak landscape. Parking access to the beach at Scusset State Reservation is provided in camping fee. The regular camping season is from mid-April through mid-October. Amenities include restrooms, camping, hiking, hunting (with restrictions), interpretive programs, picnicking, showers, cross-country skiing, swimming, trailer and RV dumping, walking trails. Off-season camping is available Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.



South Cape Beach State Park Mashpee MASouth Cape Beach State Park
Great Oak Road
Mashpee, MA  02649
Phone: 508-457-0495

Open: Memorial Day to Labor Day

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South Cape Beach, located between Waquoit Bay and Vineyard Sound, contains a wide variety of coastal environments, including barrier beach and dunes, salt marsh, scrub oak/pitch pine woodland and "kettle" ponds. A magnificent white sand beach stretches for over a mile. Newly constructed over-the-dune boardwalks, a small parking area and bathrooms make this a lovely place to spend a day at the shore. Interpretive programs are offered during the summer months.



Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
Route 6 and West Road
South Wellfleet, MA  02663
Phone: 508-349-2615

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This nature center offers a variety of educational programs for children and adults, including walks and workshops. Enjoy a naturalist-led bird walk on our property or listen to an evening lecture. This sanctuary has a nature center, walking trails, trail to Goose Pond, seasonal classroom, gardens, and a campground. Picnicking, birdwatching, restrooms, wheelchair accessible. Of particular interest is the boardwalk trail through the salt marsh.



“The Guardsman” – Stockbridge
Now through July 31, 2010
Circus Smirkus – Wilbraham, MA
July 30, 2010 to July 31, 2010
Comedian Chelsea Handler -- Hyannis
July 31, 2010
Paquito D'Rivera and Synchronicity – Rockport
July 31, 2010
Black Sea Salsa -- Hingham, MA
July 31, 2010
Aretha Franklin and her Orchestra -- Cohasset
August 1, 2010
Chamber music and dinner at the Clark – Williamstown, MA
August 3, 2010
Tanglewood on Parade -- Lenox, MA
August 3, 2010
Talking Hands Theatre Puppet Show -- Springfield, MA
August 3, 2010
George Thorogood and The Destroyers -- Cohasset
August 5, 2010
"Snow White" with Kaleidoscope Children’s Theatre -- Cohasset, MA
August 5, 2010
Lisa Lampenelli -- Hyannis, MA
August 5, 2010
Gloucester Sidewalk Days -- Gloucester, MA
August 5, 2010 to August 7, 2010
Suzanne Vega and Patty Larkin at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 6, 2010
School of Rock Presents: Live Aid Remade -- Arlington, MA
August 6, 2010
Ronan Tynan -- Hyannis
August 6, 2010
Kiddie Rock Concert: Princess Katie & Racer Steve -- Amherst, MA
August 7, 2010
Herbie Hancock at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 7, 2010
Bharata Natyam with Jaan R. Freeman -- Arlington, MA
August 7, 2010
Crane Beach Sandblast -- Ipswich, MA
August 7, 2010
Onset Blues Festival -- Onset, MA

August 7, 2010
Massachusetts Marketplace Festival -- Wellesley, MA
August 7, 2010
The Beach Boys -- Hyannis
August 7, 2010
The Beach Boys -- Cohasset, MA
August 8, 2010
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble -- Lenox
August 8, 2010
Circus Smirkus – Revere, MA
August 8, 2010 to August 9, 2010
Herbie Hancock – Lenox, MA
August 9, 2010
Taste of Park Plaza – Boston, MA
August 10, 2010
Peter Frampton -- Hyannis, MA
August 10, 2010
Gabriel Iglesias -- Hyannis
August 11, 2010
"Goldilocks and The Three Bears" with Kaleidoscope Children’s Theatre -- Cohasset, MA
August 12, 2010
Entrain! – Sandwich, MA
August 12, 2010
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 13, 2010
Provincetown Jazz Festival -- Provincetown, MA
August 13, 2010 to August 14, 2010
Hookers Ball -- Chatham, MA
August 14, 2010
Hookers Ball -- Chatham, MA
August 14, 2010
Adega Coop De Borba Wine Tasting -- Attleboro, MA
August 14, 2010
Tony Bennett -- Cohasset, MA
August 14, 2010
Jonathan Edwards and Aztec Two-Step at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 14, 2010
Film Night at Tanglewood – Lenox
August 14, 2010
Gloucester Waterfront Festival -- Gloucester, MA
August 14, 2010 to August 15, 2010
Iron Bridge Dinner -- Shelburne Falls, MA
August 15, 2010
Little Red Riding Hood..The Musical -- Saugus, MA
August 15, 2010
Boston's Children's Festival -- Boston, MA
August 17, 2010
Walker Bros. Circus -- Pepperell, MA
August 17, 2010
Grand Illumination at the Tabernacle -- Martha’s Vineyard, MA
August 18, 2010
"Jack and The Beanstalk" with Kaleidoscope Children’s Theatre -- Cohasset, MA
August 19, 2010
The B-52s at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 20, 2010
Fireworks at Ocean Park By The Sea -- Martha’s Vineyard, MA
August 20, 2010
Comedian Lewis Black -- Cohasset
August 21, 2010
CraftFest -- Cotuit
August 21, 2010 to August 22, 2010
James Montgomery Blues Band at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 21, 2010
Sandcastle and Sculpture Day -- Nantucket, MA
August 21, 2010
All-Chopin concert -- Lenox
August 24, 2010 to August 26, 2010
Marcia Ball at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 27, 2010
Natalie MacMaster at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 28, 2010
Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 29, 2010
Summer Chef Series -- North Andover, MA
August 30, 2010
Summer Chef Series -- North Andover, MA
August 30, 2010
Crosby, Stills, & Nash – Lenox
September 1, 2010
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 3, 2010
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 4, 2010
Robert Randolph and the Family Band at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 10, 2010
Banjo and Fiddle Contests at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 11, 2010
Dave Matthews Tribute Band -- Salisbury
September 16, 2010
Halfway to St Patrick’s Day Irish Music Weekend -- Salisbury
September 17, 2010 to September 19, 2010
The Magic of Storytime with Cinderella and Snow White -- Saugus, MA
September 19, 2010
North American Sea Glass Festival -- Hyannis, MA
October 9, 2010 to October 10, 2010
Wellfleet OysterFest -- Wellfleet, MA
October 16, 2010 to October 17, 2010
Click here for a full list of events.

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