Biking and Roller Blading The "Cape Cod Rail Trail" follows the path of the old railway lines on Cape Cod from Wellfleet to Dennis. More specific information can be found about bikes at Biking. This 4' wide, paved, nearly level route winds through woods, salt marshes and fields. It is wide enough to pass each way comfortably. Only hoofers, bikers and rollerbladers allowed. You can get on and off for short outings of just a mile or so, round trip to any length or try to cover the whole 24.5 miles!!! It does cross roads in some places where there are crosswalks and signs but caution is required for your little brother or sister. Its a great way to explore or get your folks away from the beaches.

While we're talkin' bikin', the National Seashore has bicycle trails too. You can check their web site when it comes up soon (?). But for a preview, they have the: Nauset Trail, 1.6 miles of woods and salt marsh from the Visitor Center to the Lighthouse in Eastham; Head of the Meadow Trail, 2 miles along a saltmarsh in Truro (nice); an the Provincetown Lands Trail, (longest loop, 5.25 miles) from Race Point ot Herring Cove over dunes and around ponds. Check it out!

There are other places to bike like Nickerson State Park in Brewster, Crane Wildlife Sanctuary in Falmouth or the Canal that offer good chances to get away from it all.

Save yourself the hassle and don't bike Rte. 28 or Rte. 6A in the summer. No bike lanes and lotsa cars.

Just a thought. Ever been sailing on a big: Sloop, Schooner, Ketch or Catboat? They have 'em in Hyannis. It costs but it can be the experience of a lifetime being on a really big sailboat, wind in your hair, spray across the bow and the wheel beneath your hands. We've got good wind for it too. There is something special about sailing, working the wind, power from the earth... Think about it. Trips are usually 1/2 day or full day. Sailing to the Islands (!) is a full day trip.

There are, of course the ferries to the islands out of Falmouth, Woods Hole, Hyannis and Harwich.

Go fishing! There are 365 ponds on the Cape, the best freshwater fishing in New England and Trophy size fish of all kinds in lotsa places. And then there is saltwater fishin'. Fishing inlets, bays, rivers and the shore. This isn't rocket science, check it out under Fishing.

There's also Shellfishing. Hungry?

And Beachcombing. Now beachcombing is a science. Sorta. If you're lookin' for lost diamond rings stick to the popular beaches, otherwise The Bay (north side) is probably the best at low tide because of the looooong tidal flat. The Sound (south side) is probably better for finding stuff, flotsam and jetsam driven ashore on the wind. The Ocean (east side) is probably the best for finding things from the big deep like Sand Dollars, big bouys, nets and such. Depends on whether you're lookin' for shells (E. & S.), Tidal Pools (N., 'specially Corporation Beach) or stuff (E. & S.).

The BIG beaches for catchin' some rays are Sandy Neck in Barnstable, the Outer Beach from Chatham to Orleans and the National Seashore from Eastham to P'town. Big beaches, miles to walk, room to be alone or run or make a cook fire (check local laws). P'town dunes are the biggest(but only to look at)! P'town has dune buggy rides too!

What to do when it rains??? Well, there's the Train Museum on Depot Rd. in Chatham. Small but nice and with good models, old lights and stuff and a couple of actual cars to explore. The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History on 6A in Brewster has nature programs, daily talks, fish tanks, hands-on, and trails out back. For that matter, the NOAA Aquarium in Woods Hole has even more of the same. The New England Fire and HIstory Museum in Brewster has a lot of neat stuff too. The CapeCod Railroad is a great run around the upper Cape. The National Seashore offers talks. Yesteryears Doll Museum in Sandwich. The Discovery Days Children's Museum in Dennisport has Lincoln Logs, Big Blocks, Legos, a Reptile room and is really a well equipped discovery classroom for ages three to ten. The Cape Cod Children's Museum in Falmouth. There are libraries in every town, with computers and some with listening rooms. And of course, there's sorting out the stuff you've collected and planning more adventures.

Playgrounds. There are a number of those big wooden playgrounds built around the Cape. I know Falmouth, Dennis and Chatham have them. More towns than that, check at the town hall. These are the really big ones with ramps, horizontal ladders, tunnels, swings, slides and all kinds of neat stuff.

If you are here for July 4, many towns have there own fireworks. One of the neatest ways of watching is to find a central location and watch different towns' fireworks all at once. Check with their scheduling and look for high ground (hills, buildings) or go to sea. That's right, if you are on the water off the coast where you can see a number of towns (like Pleasant Bay or Cape Cod Bay) you can watch fireworks from the north, west and south. Towns also have local festivals where they shoot off fireworks at other times of the summer.

Do you like to canoe? There are rentals for both canoe and sea kayaks! Some of the best places are the big river systems and the salt marshes they come from. Places like Scorton Creek in Sandwich, Chase Garden Creek in Yarmouth, Swan Pond River in Dennisport, Herring River in Harwich, the upper end of Little Pleasant Bay in Orleans, Nauset Bay out from Salt Pond in Eastham, Pamet River in Truro. IF you paddle an estuary at high tide you'll see more country due to your height, at low tide you'll surprise more wildlife around corners.

Swimming? YES!!! Most freshwater ponds have a "town way to water" that is public. Only a few beaches have lifeguards either fresh or salt. Be cautious and bring an adult. Saltwater always has a current, the shore may have a longshore current that keeps you away from shore if you get out a few yards, beware.

Most shorelines, both fresh and saltwater, are firm sand. This is prime wading without too much chance of mud. A great opportunity to chase a or cool off watching a and such, or just look around. Beach shoes are cool. They protect you from the possibility of trash in freshwater and crabs and beach grass(sharp!) around estuaries.

BE careful if you are wading at high tide in saltmarshes and watch your step! Narrow drainage channels hidden just under water could be 1' wide and 10' deep!!! Mud holes in saltmarshes can also be VERY soft and feel and act likequicksand.

Have you ever been up in the air in a small plane. Wow! It is incredible up there. You can see everything for miles and yet you can be low enough (500')to see your house,friends or boat. You can charter flights as short as twenty minutes to look around the town or two hours to see the whole Cape. All Airports have charters. FLYING IS COOL!!

Camps? There's a bunch. You can do everything from sail to horseback ride to play tennis to paint. Your choice. Make a plan and check it out.

Go fly a Kite. The big beaches are best to avoid trees and wires but the wind is usually 14 knots (the third windiest place in the country) and that's great kite wind. Winds are onshore most of the day so figure more wind on the south coast due to prevailing S'westerlies than the Bay side. If you have more than one diamond kite you can attach the string from the first to the back of the next, and so on, until you are flying a mile high or more. The weather service once flew kites to 80,000 feet this way! The sky is the limit!

>Whale Watching. Trips daily out of P'town and Barnstable Harbor. If you haven't been close enough to see the eye of the whale looking back at you, you haven't felt small lately. This is incredibly cool. Some days there are lots and other days just a few but it is really incredible to watch them breach and wave their flukes. You haven't been to the sea if you haven't seen whales.

And now seals, too. Sometimes hundreds of grey and harbor seals mooing and grunting and staring back from just a few feet away. Check out guiding at Services or look for seals yourself on beach points, in bays and on small offshore islands. Watch for their bobbing heads and approach slowly but don't sneak, they might think you're hunting and panic. You can get within 50' of where they rest from a boat, twice that far on foot. And five feet in the water!

More to come as Ben and I figure it out. Or let us know what you've found by sending us Email below and we'll add it so others will know and show your name as the SOURCE!!!!

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This page was created by Michael Eichenseer and Ben. . on February 8,1997.
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