Home | About Us | Facebook | Advertise | Maps | Feedback | Site Map
CONNECTICUTMAINEMASSACHUSETTSNEW HAMPSHIRERHODE ISLANDVERMONT
 

Massachusetts - Walking, Hiking and Biking in Cape Cod

A-CD-HI-PR-Z

R-Z    top of listings

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

Click to view mapSee Map

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.



Shining Sea Bike Path
Falmouth, MA

Click to view mapSee Map

The Shining Sea Path follows the abandoned rail line from the center of Falmouth to the Steamship Authority ferry dock in Woods Hole. It is fairly level and offers vistas of beaches and forest.



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

Open: Memorial Day to Labor Day

Click to view mapSee Map

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

Click to view mapSee Map

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.



I-P    top of listings

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

Open: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset

Send emailEmail   Click to view mapSee Map

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

Send emailEmail   Click to view mapSee Map

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
Route 6A
Brewster, MA  02631
Phone: 508-896-3491

Click to view mapSee Map

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.



D-H    top of listings

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.

Click to view mapSee Map

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.



A-C    top of listings

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.

Click to view mapSee Map

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)

Click to view mapSee Map

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).



Cape Cod National Seashore Bike Trails

Phone: 508-771-2144

Click to view mapSee Map

The Cape Cod National Seashore maintains three bicycle trails ranging from 1.6 to 7.3 miles long. Use of motorized vehicles, including mopeds, on these paved trails are prohibited. Bicycles may be rented within the towns.
Nauset Trail: This trail connects Salt Pond with Coast Guard Beach. It leads through pine and oak forest with vistas of Nauset Marsh along the way. This trail is wheelchair accessible, and can be shortened by starting or ending at the Doane Rock picnic area. From Salt Pond Visitor Center parking area through Doane Rock picnic area in Eastham, ending at the Coast Guard beach. Distance is 1.6 miles.
Head of the Meadow Trail: This level trail skirts the edge of a freshwater marsh and provides glimpses of the marsh and dunes. From High Head Road in Truro to Head of the Meadow Beach parking area (beach fees may apply). Distance is 2 miles.
Province Lands Trail: This hilly trail winds among beech and oak forests, sand dunes and freshwater ponds. The loop trail is 5.45 miles, with spurs to Herring Cove Beach (1.10 mile), Race Point Beach (0.5 mile) and Bennett Pond (0.25 mile). Access points are Beech Forest parking area, Province Lands Visitor Center, Race Point Beach parking area, and Herring Cove Beach. Beach parking fees may apply at Race Point Beach



Cape Cod Rail Trail
Dennis to Wellfleet, MA
Phone: 508-896-3491

Click to view mapSee Map

The Cape Cod Rail Trail follows a former railroad right-of-way for 22 miles through the towns of Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham and Wellfleet. Its paved surface, few hills, and well-marked automobile crossings make it ideal for cyclists. The trail has a wide unpaved shoulder on one side to accommodate horseback riding, walkers, and runners.
There are many opportunities to get off the trail and visit a beach. Food and water are available and public restrooms can be found at Nickerson State Park, Salt Pond Visitors Center at Cape Cod National Seashore and the National Seashore Headquarters. Bike rentals are available at many points along the way.
Free parking for trail users is available at the trailhead at Route 134 in South Dennis; Headwaters Drive in Harwich; Underpass Road, off Route 137 in Brewster; Nickerson State Park in Brewster; Route 137 at Route 28 in Chatham; Winifred Road, off Old Queen Road in Chatham; Orleans Center at Old Colony Way in Orleans; Cape Cod National Seashore at the Salt Pond Visitors Center in Eastham; National Seashore at Marconi Area in Wellfleet; the trailhead at LeCount Hollow Road in South Wellfleet; Head of the Meadow Beach parking lot in Truro; High Head Road in Truro; and National Seashore's Province Lands Visitor Center in 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.

Click to view mapSee Map

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.




A-CD-HI-PR-Z
Shawn Colvin -- Salisbury
November 20, 2009
Trey McIntyre Project -- Cambridge
November 20, 2009 to November 22, 2009
Bill Blagg III: A Night of Magic -- Springfield
November 20, 2009 to November 21, 2009
America's Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration -- Plymouth
November 20, 2009 to November 22, 2009
Tupelo Night of Comedy – Salisbury
November 21, 2009
Homes for the Holidays Tour -- Gloucester
November 21, 2009
Harvey Robbins's Royalty of Doo Wopp and Stars of Motown -- Worcester
November 21, 2009
Sara Tavares -- Cambridge
November 21, 2009
Dark Star Orchestra -- Lowell
November 21, 2009
Cuisine of Provençale dinner – Deerfield
November 21, 2009
Thanksgiving Parade -- Plymouth
November 21, 2009
Lighting Ceremony at Faneuil Hall Marketplace -- Boston
November 21, 2009
Open Hearth Cooking Class: A Thanksgiving Menu -- Deerfield
November 21, 2009
Festival of Wreaths – Nantucket
November 25, 2009 to November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving Day Celebration -- Sturbridge
November 26, 2009
That's Amore: A Celebration of Dean Martin and Friends -- Springfield
November 27, 2009
Vineyard Artisans Holiday Festival – West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard
November 27, 2009 to November 28, 2009
Gallagher -- Salisbury
November 27, 2009
Not Another Bite. Dining in the Early 19th Century -- Waltham
November 27, 2009
Parade of the Big Balloons -- Springfield
November 27, 2009
Season of Thanks 2009 -- Deerfield
November 28, 2009
Charles Dickens's Great-Great-Grandson Performs "A Christmas Carol" – Sutton
November 28, 2009 to November 29, 2009
Wynonna Judd Holiday Show – New Bedford
December 1, 2009
“The Nutcracker” -- Worcester
December 4, 2009 to December 6, 2009
Hansel and Gretel -- Boston
December 4, 2009 to December 6, 2009
Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas
December 5, 2009 to December 6, 2009
A Holiday Celebration for Families – Stockbridge
December 5, 2009
“A Christmas Carol 2009” – New Bedford
December 5, 2009
A Christmas Celtic Sojourn -- Worcester
December 11, 2009
seARTS Wearable Arts Show & Sale – Gloucester
December 11, 2009 to December 12, 2009
Craft Boston Holiday 2009 -- Boston
December 11, 2009 to December 13, 2009
Cultural Survival Bazaar – Cambridge
December 12, 2009 to December 13, 2009
US Air Force Holiday Show – New Bedford
December 12, 2009
Vienna Boys Choir -- Worcester
December 13, 2009
New Bedford Symphony Orchestra Family Holiday Pops – New Bedford
December 19, 2009
Click here for a full list of events.

Follow Visit New England on  
CONNECTICUT   |   MAINE   |   MASSACHUSETTS   |   NEW HAMPSHIRE   |   RHODE ISLAND   |   VERMONT

home | about us | advertise | maps | feedback | site map | top of page

TM & © 1996-2009 Mystic Media, Inc. and Visit New England ®. All rights reserved. terms of use | privacy policy
Selected Photos © SingleSourcePhoto.com