Cape Cod Rail Trail

Cape Cod Rail Trail
The trail in East Brewster
Established	1970s ^[1]
Length	22 mi (35 km)
Location	Barnstable County
Trailheads	Route 134, South Dennis Lecount Hollow Road, Wellfleet Willow Street, Yarmouth (in planning)
Use	Hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, roller blading, and cross country skiing
Hiking details
Trail difficulty	Easy
Season	Year-round
Hazards	Deer ticks, poison ivy, road crossings
Surface	Paved surface
Right of way	Former railroad line
Website	Cape Cod Rail Trail

The Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) is a 22-mile (35 km) paved rail trail located on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.^[2] The trail route passes through the towns of Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, and Wellfleet. It connects to the 6-plus mile (10 km) Old Colony Rail Trail leading to Chatham, and 8 miles (13 km) of trails within Nickerson State Park.^[3] It also passes near the end of the Nauset Bike Trail leading to Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod National Seashore.^[4] Short side trips on roads lead to several other national seashore beaches.

History

The original rail line was constructed by the Old Colony Railroad, which was later incorporated into the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. The New Haven Railroad merged into Penn Central in 1968: it went bankrupt by 1970. The corridor was purchased by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)) in 1976, and a portion of the right-of-way was converted to the Cape Cod Rail Trail by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation in the 1970s.^[1] MassDOT leases the line from Route 134 in South Dennis to LeCount Hollow Road in South Wellfleet to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation for trail use.^[5]

Route description

South Dennis trailhead to Nickerson State Park

The trail begins in South Dennis at an intersection with Massachusetts Route 134. This trailhead has a parking area and is just south of exit 9A on US 6. The first 1.5 miles of the trail run through a primarily industrial area in Dennis. It roughly parallels Great Western Road during this section, crossing it twice.

The trail then enters Harwich as the landscape turns to houses and agricultural land before turning gradually north and intersecting with the Old Colony Rail Trail at a bike rotary between miles 3 and 4. The rotary has maps and benches in its center for users of the trail. North of the rotary, the trail passes through a wooded area and crosses Route 6 via an overpass. Another parking area is located at the trail's intersection with Headwaters Drive, north of Route 6. It crosses Massachusetts Route 124 at mile 5 and runs along it until mile 7, passing several ponds and entering Brewster at mile 6.

The CCRT crosses Massachusetts Route 137 at mile 8 and then runs south of central Brewster. A parking area is located at Route 137, before the trail enters Nickerson State Park just past mile 10. It is in the park for about two-thirds of a mile, intersecting some of its trails, then crosses Massachusetts Route 6A by an underpass as it leaves the park. A parking lot is located near the Route 6A crossing.

Sign describing points east and west of Nickerson State Park along Cape Cod Rail Trail.

Nickerson State Park to Wellfleet trailhead

The trail continues to cross Namskaket Creek into Orleans between miles 11 and 12.

The crossing of Route 6 between miles 12 and 13, near exit 12 on the highway, constitutes the trail's only (and brief) on-road section. The trail follows Salty Ridge Road to West Road, where it turns right over the Route 6 overpass. It then turns left and leaves West Road heading northeast into downtown Orleans. The CCRT crosses Main Street just past mile 13; this area in downtown has several bike shops and dining establishments. A parking area is located off of Old Colony Way, named for the former railroad that the trail runs on. The landscape changes to a less dense residential area as it leaves downtown. The third crossing of Route 6 is an overpass just before mile 14 and just east of the Orleans rotary.

The trail enters Eastham shortly after this, at which point there is a large salt marsh, Boat Meadow Creek, on the west side of the trail. It was at this location that a rudimentary canal, Jeremiah's Gutter, had existed in the 1700s, allowing passage from Cape Cod Bay to the Cove area of Orleans. Around mile marker 15, the trail enters the residential section of Eastham, crossing Gov. Prence Road. The trail remains relatively straight through most of Eastham, and at-grade road crossings are fairly frequent. Locust Road, between miles 16 and 17, is a signed bike route to the Nauset Bicycle Trail (which brings cyclists and pedestrians to Coast Guard Beach) and the Salt Pond Visitor Center, as well as other points in the Cape Cod National Seashore. In the North Eastham area, just west of the trail's intersection with Brackett Road, there are bike shops as well as delis and a Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop. North of Brackett Road, the trail runs closer to Route 6 and several motels and restaurants on the east side of the highway are connected directly to the trail.

The CCRT enters Wellfleet near mile 19. Sparse residential development lies west of the trail, while the east side of the trail is fronted by a power line right-of-way, with undeveloped National Seashore land beyond that. North of mile 21, the trail intersects Marconi Beach Road, which leads to Marconi Beach and the Marconi Station site. Sparse development continues, with the trail ending near mile 22, at Lecount Hollow Road in Wellfleet. This trailhead has the only parking area on the trail north of Orleans. The road provides access to several Wellfleet town beaches.

Expansion and development

Plans call for a 3.7 mile extension of the rail trail westward from the current South Dennis trailhead to Peter Holmes Park on Old Town House Road in South Yarmouth, which is the east limit of freight track used by the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad. The extension project calls for the creation of a 10-foot-wide paved path, construction of a 160-foot pedestrian bridge over Bass River and the construction of a new 97-space parking lot to be built off Station Avenue in South Yarmouth (the former site of the New Haven's Bass River station). Work on the extension is scheduled to be completed in 2016 or 2017.^[6]

Efforts to extend the bike path from the Wellfleet trailhead north to Provincetown have been under discussion for many years. Four possible routes were identified in 2011: a scenic corridor through the National Seashore, a share-the-road corridor of back roads west of Route 6, a corridor that follows the former railroad right of way (some of which is now privately owned), and a route that would take the bike path north along a power line right of way from South Wellfleet into Truro and then along Route 6 into Provincetown.^[7]

References

1 2 Cape Cod Commission (August 2011, revised May 20, 2013). "Cape Cod Regional Transportation Plan" (PDF). pp. 165–166, 350. Retrieved September 15, 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
↑ "Cape Cod Rail Trail". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
↑ Johnstone, Stuart (2006). Bike Paths of Massachusetts. Carlisle, Mass.: Active Publications. ISBN 0962799076.
↑ "Cape Cod: Bike trails, safety tips, and guidelines" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
↑ "Official Map" (PDF). MassParks: Cape Cod Rail Trail. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
↑ Legere, Christine (July 8, 2014). "Cape rail trail extension gets put on track". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
↑ Bragg, Mary Ann (2011-09-05). "Officials peddling rail trail extension". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved 2014-09-16.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cape Cod Rail Trail.

Route map: Bing / Google

Cape Cod Rail Trail - Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Official Map of the Cape Cod Rail Trail
Cape Cod Rail Trail - CapeCodBikeGuide.com
Master planning for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure on the Outer Cape - Cape Cod Commission

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

National Historical Parks	Adams Blackstone River Valley Boston Lowell Minute Man New Bedford Whaling

National Historic Sites	Boston African American Frederick Law Olmsted John Fitzgerald Kennedy Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters Salem Maritime Saugus Iron Works Springfield Armory

Other National Park Service Units	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Cape Cod National Seashore

National Wildlife Refuges	Assabet River Great Meadows Mashpee Massasoit Monomoy Nantucket Nomans Land Oxbow Parker River Silvio O. Conte Thacher Island

Other	Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve West Hill Dam (USACE)

State Parks

Parks	Alewife Brook Ames Nowell Ashland Bash Bish Falls Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Borderland Boston Harbor Islands Bradley Palmer C. M. Gardner Callahan Castle Island State Park Chicopee Memorial City Square Clarksburg Cochituate Connecticut River Greenway Demarest Lloyd Dighton Rock Dunn Ellisville Harbor Fall River Heritage Gardner Heritage Great Brook Farm Halibut Point Hampton Ponds Holyoke Heritage Hopkinton Lake Lorraine Lake Wyola Lawrence Heritage Lowell Heritage Lynn Heritage Massasoit Maudslay Moore Mount Holyoke Range Natural Bridge Nickerson Pearl Hill Pilgrim Quinsigamond Robinson Roxbury Heritage Rutland Skinner South Cape Beach Wahconah Falls Webb Memorial Wells Western Gateway Heritage Whitehall Wompatuck

Reservations	Beaver Brook Belle Isle Marsh Blue Hills Breakheart Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Dorchester Shores Elm Bank Fort Phoenix Hammond Pond Hemlock Gorge Horseneck Beach Jug End Lynn Shore Middlesex Fells Mount Everett Mount Greylock Mount Sugarloaf Mount Tom Myles Standish Mystic River Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Nasketucket Bay Neponset River Pope John Paul II Purgatory Chasm Quincy Quarries Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Salisbury Beach Sandy Point Scusset Beach Stony Brook Upper Charles River Wachusett Mountain Walden Pond West Island Weymouth Wilson Mountain

Other	Appalachian Trail Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Cape Cod Rail Trail Fort Revere Lake Dennison Recreation Area Lower Neponset River Trail Nashua River Rail Trail Norwottuck Rail Trail Quabbin Reservoir Southwest Corridor Park Squantum Point Park Streeter Point Recreation Area Sudbury Reservoir Wachusett Reservoir Ware River Watershed Area

State Forests

Wildlife Management Areas

Wildlife Management Areas	Agawam Lake Agawam Mill Pond Ashby Ashfield Hawley Attitash Ayer Game Farm Baddacook Pond Bakers Pond Bay Circuit Trail Bearse Pond Becket Bennett Birch Hill Black Brook Blackstone / West River Bolton Flats Boxboro Station Brayton Point Salt Marsh Breakneck Brook Brewer Brook Bullock Ledge Burrage Pond Canoe River Catamount Chalet Chase Garden Creek Salt Marsh Childs River Chockalog Swamp Church Homestead Clapps Pond Clinton Bluff Concord River Connecticut River Cook Pond Copicut Coy Hill Crane Pond Cummington Cusky Pond Dartmoor Farm Darwin Scott Memorial Day Mountain Deerfield River Dogfish Bar Beach Coastal Dolomite Ledges Dunstable Brook E. Kent Swift Eagle Island East Mountain Eastham Salt Marsh Elbow Meadow English Salt Marsh Eugene D. Moran Facing Rock Fairfield Brook Farmington River Fish Brook Fisherville Pond Fisk Forestdale Lot Fisk Meadows Five Mile River Flagg Swamp Flint Pond Four Chimneys Fox Den Fox Island Salt Marsh Frances A. Crane Freetown Swamp George L. Darey Housatonic Valley Glen Echo Lake Gosnold Grassy Pond (Dennis) Grassy Pond (Plymouth) Green River (Franklin County) Green River (Berkshire County) Greenfield River Halfway Pond Hamilton Hancock Harlow / Cooks Pond Haskell Swamp Hauk Swamp Hawksnest State Park Hawley Head Of The Plains Herman Covey High Ridge Hinsdale Flats Hiram H. Fox Hockomock Swamp Hog Pond Lot Honey Pot Hoosatonic River Hoosic River Hop Brook Housatonic River Hubbard Brook Hunting Hills Hyannis Ponds Ipswich River John J. Kelly Joint Base Cape Cod Jug End Fen Jug End Kampoosa Fen Katama Plains Knops Pond Konkapot River Lackey Pond Lake Lorraine Lake Rohunta Lake Snipatuit Lake Warner Lanesboro Lawrence Brook Lawrence Pond Lot Leadmine Leyden Lilly Pond Little Alum Pond Long Sought For Pond Maple Hill Maple Springs Martha Deering Martin H. Burns Mascuppic Lake Mashpee Pine Barrens Mashpee Pond Lot Mashpee River Mckinstry Brook Meetinghouse Swamp Merrill Pond Miacomet Heath Mill River Millers River Mine Brook Montague Plains Montague Moose Brook Moose Brook Moose Hill Mossy Pond Mount Watatic Reservation Mt. Esther Mt. Toby Highlands Mt. Toby Mt. Tom Muddy Brook Muddy Pond Mulpus Brook Nashua River Natty Brook Nemasket River Nissitissit River Noquochoke Nordeen Marsh North Brookfield North Shore Salt Marsh Northboro Oakham Olivers Pond Orange Otis Packard Pond Palmer Pantry Brook Pauchaug Brook Peru Peterson Swamp Phillipston Podunk Marsh Poland Brook Popple Camp Popponesset Beach Poutwater Pond Powell Brook Prince River Provincetown Route 6 Corridor Purchade Brook Quaboag Quacumquasit Quag Pond Bog Quashnet River Quashnet Woods State Reservation Quinapoxet River Quinsigamond Marsh Quisset Raccoon Hill Rainbow Beach Red Brook Richardson Robbins Pond Rochester Rocky Gutter Rowe Salisbury Salt Marsh Salisbury Salt Marsh Sandwich Game Farm Sandy Pond Satan's Kingdom Savage Hill Savoy Sawmill River Scorton Creek Coastal SE Mass Bioreserve Sevenmile River Shattuck Brook Sheperds Island Shubael Pond Sibley Brook Sly Pond South Barrier Beach South Meadow Pond South Shore Salt Marsh South Triangle Pond Southampton Southwick Spectacle Pond Springhill Lot Sputtermill Pond Squannacook River Stafford Hill Sudbury River Sunderland Islands Taconic Mountain Taunton River Taunton River Tekoa Mountain Thad Ellis Thayer Pond Three Mile Pond Townsend Townsend Hill Trapfall Brook Triangle Pond Tully Brook Tully Mountain Tully River Wakeby Pond Wales Walnut Hill Ware River Warwick Wendell West Meadows Westboro Westfield River Westfield Weymouth Back River Whately Great Swamp Whately Ponds Whately Wilbraham Game Farm William Forward Williams River Williamsburg Winimusset Wolf Swamp

Wildlife Sanctuaries	Billingsgate Island Carr Island E. Howe Forbush Egg Rock Grace A. Robson J.C. Phillips Knight Penikese Island Ram Island (Salisbury) Ram Island (Mattapoisett) Susan B. Minns Tarpaulin Cove Watatic Mountain

The Nature Conservancy

Black Pond Bog Boat Meadow Francis Newhall Woods Grassy Pond Greene Swamp Halfway Pond Island Hawley Bog Hockomock Swamp Hoft Farm Homer-Watcha Preserve Katama Plains McElwain-Olsen Miacomet Moors Reed Brook Drury Sandy Neck David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail Stacy Mountain Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations

Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuaries

Arcadia Broad Meadow Brook Broadmoor Daniel Webster Drumlin Farm High Ledges Ipswich River Moose Hill North River Pleasant Valley Stony Brook Wachussett Meadow Wellfleet Bay

Other

Concord Land Conservation Trust Harvard Forest Lincoln Land Conservation Trust Lloyd Center for the Environment Lynn Woods Reservation Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary

Category
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
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