What to See at Cape Cod National Seashore

Forty miles of Outer Beach, cedar swamps, and quiet bike trails on the Massachusetts coast.

By Chris Hayworth, Nestward

Cape Cod National Seashore protects the "Great Outer Beach" Thoreau walked in the 1800s — forty miles of sand, marsh, ponds, and dune-backed shoreline along the Cape's elbow and forearm. It is less a single destination than a string of beaches, trails, and lighthouses spread across six towns. The trick is knowing which few to actually stop at, because you cannot do it all in a day.

The beaches (start here)

There are six official seashore swimming beaches, and on a clear summer day they are the whole point. Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light Beach in Eastham are the classic pair — wide, lifeguarded in season, and backed by dunes. Marconi Beach in Wellfleet sits below a tall sand bluff, so budget energy for the stairs back up. Head of the Meadow and Race Point near Provincetown feel wilder and more remote.

• The water is open Atlantic and genuinely cold even in July — kids will get in, you may not.
• Lots are small and fill by mid-morning in summer. Arrive early or come after 3 p.m. when the day-trippers leave.
• Entrance is a flat fee per vehicle in season; a one-time pass covers all six beaches. Watch the tide — the beach you walked at low tide disappears at high.

Bike the trails instead of driving

The seashore has some of the best easy cycling in New England, and bikes dodge the parking headache entirely. The Nauset Trail runs about 1.6 miles from the Salt Pond Visitor Center down to Coast Guard Beach — flat, paved, and doable with kids. The Province Lands Trail near Provincetown is the showpiece: roughly 5.5 miles looping through wild dunes and beech forest, with steep little dips that make it more fun than its length suggests. The Head of the Meadow Trail in Truro is a shorter, mellow option between the bay and the ocean side.

Walk the cedar swamp and the woods

Off the beach, the short trails show you a side of the Cape most visitors miss. A few worth your time:

• Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail — a 1.2-mile loop from the Marconi Site in Wellfleet that drops onto a boardwalk through a rare, shady cedar swamp. The standout short hike here. Expect mud after rain.
• Beech Forest Trail — a quiet pond-and-forest loop near Provincetown, especially good for birding and fall color.
• Doane Trail — an accessible, mostly flat loop near Coast Guard Beach that passes Doane Rock, the largest glacial boulder on the Cape.
• Pilgrim Spring Trail — a short Truro walk to the spot where the Mayflower Pilgrims are said to have found fresh water.

Lighthouses, history, and a round of golf

Nauset Light and Highland (Cape Cod) Light are the two photogenic beacons, both moved back from eroding cliffs in the 1990s. The Marconi Site marks where Marconi sent the first transatlantic wireless message in 1903 — little remains but the bluff-top view is dramatic. If you golf, Highland Links in Truro is a genuine seaside links course right beside the lighthouse, one of the oldest in the country.

For families and first-timers

Start at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham to get oriented, grab a map, and pick up the Junior Ranger booklet — it gives kids a reason to look at marshes and dunes instead of just the snack bar. A solid first day: visitor center, a short cedar-swamp or Doane walk, then an afternoon at Coast Guard Beach. Bring layers; the Cape's ocean side runs cooler and breezier than the bay, and fog rolls in fast.