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Explore Cape Cod
| From fly-fishing the world famous Monomoy flats
for prize stripers to kayaking the hundreds of inlets and rivers
around the region, we offer it all. We have compiled a list of activities
with corresponding links to companies that can assist with rounding
out your perfect visit to the Cape & Islands. (Please
visit Cape Cod Travel Guide for more Activities & Events on
Cape Cod) There is definitely something primordial about the way we are drawn to the ocean. And if there is one thing Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket has a lot of, it’s ocean —and inlets, bays and estuaries all teeming with a variety of experiences. When it comes to outdoors activities on the Cape & Islands, there are a multitude of exciting adventures. Those seeking a sporting adventure on the Lower Cape will appreciate the exciting games of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Players come from collegiate powerhouses across the country (especially the state schools of the Sun Belt), and Major League Baseball uses this league to cull the few worthy professionals from the vast field of dreamers. Today, one out of every eight professionals has come through this league. The Chatham Athletics take to Veteran’s Field (Main Street, Chatham) and the Harwich Mariners to Whitehouse Field (Oak Street, Harwich) all summer long, while the Brewster White Caps call the field at Cape Cod Regional Technical School (Route 124, Harwich) home. And each of the three towns has its own fierce loyalties! Start times are in the early evening, and each field hosts at least a game or two each week. Look for signs posted around town, or check the league’s official website at capecodbaseball.org for a detailed schedule. Perhaps best of all, there’s no admission for a night of this all-American fun. (Please visit Cape Cod Travel Guide for more Activities & Events on Cape Cod) A marvel of modern engineering, the Cape Cod Canal marks its 90th anniversary this year. Learn all about the history of the canal at the Canal Visitors Center (off Tupper Road, Sandwich; 508-833-9678), where you’ll find a 46-seat theater showing continuous presentations on canal history, flora and fauna. You’ll also find interactive monitors, as well as displays of maritime artifacts, historic photos and a retired 41-foot US Army Corps of Engineers patrol boat. Throughout the summer, park rangers offer guided walks, “bike hikes” and evening campfire programs. Check with the Visitors Center for scheduled events. The level seven-mile service roads on either side of the canal are great venues for bicycling, walking and jogging. Benches along the service roads invite visitors to sit and watch some of the 20,000 vessels that pass through the canal annually. Teacher and poet Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote about the “shining sea” in “America the Beautiful,” was born in Falmouth in 1859. Take the opportunity to see the beauty for yourself along the Shining Sea Bike Path, a 3.3-mile paved route that runs along the coast from Falmouth to Woods Hole. (This is a great way to enter Woods Hole, where traffic in summer is heavy and parking is scarce.) The trail offers views of Nobska Light, a working lighthouse built in the 1800s, that now serves as home for the Group Commander of the Woods Hole Coast Guard Base. The grounds are open to the public every day until dusk, and lighthouse tours are offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary (508-457-3219).
With the recently completed Chatham arm of the well-known Cape Cod Rail Trail, the bike path now truly encompasses all of the Lower Cape. Though the trail begins at Route 134 in Dennis, there are public parking lots and access paths on Underpass Road at Rte. 137 and at Nickerson State Park in Brewster, and on Route 124 at the Pleasant Lake General Store and off Great Western Road near Herring Run Road in Harwich. Chatham has space on Stepping Stone Road, just off Crowell Road. Grab your helmet, a bottle of water and start pedaling. You’ll see cranberry bogs, lakes and ponds and maybe even some wildlife. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge (508-945-5450), off the coast of Chatham, encompasses 2,750 acres of wilderness stretch across two islands. No human residents or vehicles will be found here, but the islands are a favored resting spot for hundreds of species of migratory birds. Ferry service to the refuge is offered from its headquarters on Morris Island. The thousand acres of the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (291
Route 6, Wellfleet; 508-349-2615) offer miles of walking trails,
along with an abundance of tranquility and bird-watching opportunities.
In the visitor’s Center are informative displays about indigenous
birds. Family events, guided walks and bird watches are scheduled
here year-round, along with marsh cruises and seal cruises to Monomoy
Island. Open daily in summer; admission is $5 for adults, $3for
children. The Cape Cod National Seashore begins in Eastham at the Salt Pond Visitor Center and ends at the very tip of the Cape at the Province Lands Visitor’s Center. The Salt Pond Visitor’s Center (Route 6) is undergoing a massive renovation and is tentatively scheduled to open some time in 2004, but there are brochures for self- guided walking and biking trails and staff on hand in a temporary structure. Explore the Fort Hill Area, offering unsurpassed views of Nauset Beach and the Atlantic Ocean from a public parking area, hike several well marked trails, and visit the Penniman House, the former grand home of a whaling captain now open as a museum offering guided tours. Further up the coast are the Marconi Station, a scale model of Guglielmo Marconi’s apparatus used to send the first transatlantic telegraph, and the White Cedar Swamp Trail, a boardwalk winding through a quiet swamp set amidst towering cedars. The Province Lands Visitor’s Center (Race Point Road,Provincetown) is a hub of activity in a desolate land with a series of four different movies about the area that run all day, ship replicas, information about the fragile ecosystem and an observation deck that offers views of dune and ocean in every direction. During July and August, guided walks and activities are offered each day. The Visitor Center opens for the season on May 1 and is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. (Please visit Cape Cod Travel Guide for more Activities & Events on Cape Cod) FISHING on CAPE COD Beginner and expert anglers will find a world-class fishing experience with Fishtales Sportfishing (508-432-3783). Aboard a 33-foot, six-passenger Fortier, you will explore the rips of Monomoy or Nantucket in search of trophy blues and stripers. The boat is fully equipped, tackle is provided, and Capt. Mort has more than 46 years experience tracking down the big ones. Excursions run from May through October. Call for reservations. Just off the main streets in downtown Falmouth are the Beebe Woods, a 383-acre conservation area with extensive hiking trails, donated to the town by the late Josiah K. Lilly. Take Depot Avenue (next to the Inn on the Square at 40 North Main St.) to the top of the hill. The trails lead out to two different ponds. Signs mark the way. One in the Sippewissett section of town is known as Ice House Pond, and another is in a kettle hole (a geologic formation left by a glacier) known as the Punch Bowl. Maps and trail guides are available at the 300 Committee office, 157 Locust St., Falmouth; 508-540-0876. Brewster is the home of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History (869 Route 6A; 800-479-3867 or 508-896-3867). The museum has dozens of displays focusing on the Cape’s indigenous flora and fauna, walking trails, and a well-organized program of outdoor events (summer camp, seal cruises, kayak tours, whale watches). Open April through September, seven days a week; general admission is $7.00 for adults and $3.50 for children ages 3 – 12, more for special programs. Brewster’s Nickerson State Park (3488 Route 6A), also in Brewster, offers miles of trails that wind though acres of undisturbed woodland and around eight ponds. Cool off with a swim in a freshwater pond, or plan to spend the night at one of the campsites and enjoy an evening educational program in the park’s amphitheatre. Punkhorn Parklands (accessed from Run Hill Road, off Setucket Road) provides miles of trails, sweet solitude, and all types of wildlife to discover. Walking trails in Harwich include Bell’s Neck Conservation Area (Bell’s Neck Road), Coy’s Brook Woodlands (Lothrop Road) and Thompson’s Field (entrances at Chatham Road or Route 39). The Massachusetts Audubon Society maintains a quiet and educational respite in its Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (291 Route 6, Wellfleet; 508-349-2615). The sanctuary provides five miles of trails that wind through varied habitats; woodlands, salt marsh and heath restoration, to name a few, often with a naturalist or two on duty even in the chillier months, as well as year-round programming of lectures, presentations and special events. Several exhibits and tanks displaying various environments, along with a list of recent sightings of the many birds drawn to the 1,000-acre sanctuary, are presented in the Nature Center. Open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. through Columbus Day; closed on Mondays through the winter. General admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children. While you are here, surrounded by all this water, why not learn to kayak AND learn to surf? No experience necessary, and no equipment required of you. Cape Outback Adventures (Truro; 800-364-0070 or 508-349-1617) has the certified instructors, the guides and all the equipment you’ll need. Get ready for an exciting three-hour, sea kayaking adventure into our bays, estuaries and inlets ($45). And when the surf is up, you’ll be ready for it! Boards, leashes, wetsuits and your certified instructor will be waiting for you at one of Wellfleet’s or Truro’s magnificent beaches. One-hour ($40) or three-hour ($100) lessons are offered daily. (Please visit Cape Cod Travel Guide for more Activities & Events on Cape Cod) Several companies in Chatham provide narrated seal cruises out to Monomoy Island where the whiskered creatures bask in the sun. Give the Beachcomber (508-945-5265), Outermost Adventures (508-945-5858) or Chatham Seal and Nature Tours (508-432-5895) a call and make a reservation for a unique adventure. Most of the companies start sailing around Memorial Day weekend and run between $10.00 and $20.00 per person. Cape Aerial Tours (Chatham Airport, 508-945-2363) provides scenic tours (including views of the seals frolicking on Monomoy) over the Outer Cape in a three-passenger Cessna. Walk-ups are welcomed, but reservations are suggested. From $85 per person. Some of the best whale watching in the world can be experienced off the coast of Cape Cod at Stellwagen Bank, feeding grounds of humpbacks and other whales. The hugest mammals of the sea explode out of the crystal ocean, whirl their massive bodies through the air and then slam back down into the frothy water – sometimes so close to the whale watch boat that you might get a little wet. Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises (Phinney’s Lane, Barnstable; 800-287-0374 or 508-362-6088), the Mid-Cape’s only whale-watch outfit, offers three trips daily, May through October. During the four-hour cruise, on-board naturalists identify the different species while providing information on local ecology. Tickets are $29 for adults; $25 for age 62 and over; $16 for children over age 3. The Portuguese Princess Whale Watch departs from MacMillan and Fishermen’s wharfs in Provincetown (800-422-3188 or 508-487-2651). The three-hour excursions ($20 per person) out to Stellwagen Bank depart daily in the morning, afternoon and near sunset. Since many cruises sell out, it is advisable to call ahead for reservations and to verify departure times. Reservations can also be made at the booth on the town pier. (Please visit Cape Cod Travel Guide for more Activities & Events on Cape Cod) |
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