The terrain can fluctuate from forest trails to loose sand, so be prepared with appropriate footwear. These hikes usually cover three to four miles and are moderate in terms of difficulty. The park service also offers many programs and ranger-led activities each summer, one of the most popular being a Sunday-morning guided ranger hike, which rewards participants with arresting views of land and water. In addition, the NPS maintains 12 Cape trails that travel through lesser-known sections of the seashore, including a beech forest, a cedar swamp, and a historic cranberry bog. And, of course, there are miles of beach to explore. A vast network of walking paths and fire roads provides a plethora of options. To truly appreciate the varied and spectacular terrain the seashore has to offer, take a hike. In season, this lighthouse can also be visited, and you will not be disappointed with the views from the top of the tower - they’re absolutely worth the climb. Ongoing coastal erosion forced this lighthouse to be moved 300 feet from the shore in the 1990s. The Three Sisters were replaced by Nauset Light a century ago. They have since been restored and can be toured at their new home off Cable Road. Eventually, they fell into disrepair and were retired. After decades of service, they had to be relocated inland because of erosion. Poised on a bluff in Eastham for much of the late 1800s, the so-called Three Sisters Lighthouses were unusual in that they were a trio of lighthouses rather than the more common singular tower. Highland Light is typically open for tours but will be closed for renovations during 2020 the nearby lightkeeper’s house, though, will be open. Highland Light, located in North Truro, stands as the tallest - and oldest - lighthouse on the Cape. To help seafarers mark their way, lighthouses were built along the Cape’s coastline in the 19th century. Since the 1600s, powerful storms and shifting sand bars off the Outer Cape have proved a disastrous combination for sea vessels of all kinds according to the park service, more than 1,000 shipwrecks lay buried off the seashore. Highland Light (Photo Credit: Allan Wood Photography / ) 2. Model ships and artifacts from actual shipwrecks remind you just how treacherous the waters off the coast can be. On the first floor, make sure to wander the Shipwreck Room. You should definitely visit the second floor, where guest rooms have been restored to how they may have looked a century ago. Today, it functions as a museum, featuring many exhibits and collectibles from Truro’s early days. Built in 1907, the Highland House served as a modest hotel - one of many that were constructed to accommodate the growing number of city dwellers from Boston and New York descending upon the Outer Cape at the end of the 1800s. More history awaits you at the Highland House Museum in Truro, which salutes the region’s nascent tourism industry. Artifacts such as glassware and pieces of smoking pipes from the Wellfleet Tavern Site (circa 1640) tell the story of the area’s early days as a fishing and whaling center. The center is rich with pottery and stone tools, reminders of the ancient Native American communities that lived here 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. To get an understanding of the region’s history, start with a trip to the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham. Here are seven of them: Nauset Light, historic restored lighthouse in Eastham (Photo Credit: Shanshan0312 / ) 1. The seashore rewards visitors with many wonderful and memorable experiences. Kennedy signed a bill creating the Cape Cod National Seashore, protecting some 40 miles of gorgeous coastline stretching from Eastham to Provincetown on what is known as the Outer Cape. Thoreau also predicted Cape Cod would develop into a resort destination, which it certainly has.įortunately, a portion of Thoreau’s Cape has been preserved from commercial development. This observation, taken from Henry David Thoreau’s collection of essays about Cape Cod, rings as true today as it did when he visited the area in the mid-19th century. “The sea-shore is a sort of neutral ground, a most advantageous point from which to contemplate this world.”
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