Whether or not you are cruising to the seaside or using to the shop, pedal energy is commonly essentially the most sensible and enjoyable approach to get round on Cape Cod.
Whereas many of the Cape’s fundamental roads are bike-friendly, visitors might be notoriously heavy and parking is restricted through the busy Cape summers. Fortuitously, there are many paved biking paths that journey by way of forests, marshes and areas of sand dunes that you simply’d by no means see from a automobile.
Cyclists have the added bonus of not having to pay for parking at many standard seashores. Whether or not you are shopping the shops on Principal Road or beach-hopping alongside the peninsula, listed here are the very best biking paths on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod Rail Path
Greatest approach to see the interior Cape
Yarmouth–Wellfleet; 27.5 miles; 2–6 hours
Passing pine-shaded forests and kettle ponds, and weaving by way of charming fundamental streets, the Cape Cod Rail Path is a 27.5-mile route alongside the previous path of the Previous Colony Railroad. The railroad carried items and passengers all through the Cape from 1845 to the early 1900s.
Prolonged in 2021, this multi-use route now travels between Yarmouth and Wellfleet, permitting riders to go to South Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham and South Wellfleet, with a spur operating right down to Chatham.
The path passes by a few of the Cape’s finest sights, together with Lengthy Pond, Nickerson State Park and the attractive Cape Cod Nationwide Seashore. Bridges and tunnels remove many street crossings, making for a peaceable and secure experience, and several other bike outlets close to the route lease out bikes if wanted, together with Dennis Cycle Center.
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Shining Sea Bikeway
One of the best bike route for locating Falmouth and Woods Gap
Woods Gap–North Falmouth; 10.7 miles; 2 hours
The Shining Sea Bikeway takes its title from a line within the tune America the Lovely, written by Falmouth native Katharine Lee Bates in 1895. This 10.7-mile route travels between the Steamship Authority ferry terminal at Woods Gap and North Falmouth, and was as soon as a spur of the New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
Flat and paved, the Shining Sea Bikeway passes cranberry bogs, the Great Sippewissett Marsh, and the historic Bourne Farm nature sanctuary, operating roughly parallel to the 28A. The Falmouth, Quissett, Trunk River and Fay seashores are simply reached alongside the south finish of the Bikeway.
The northern finish of the bikeway has a motorcycle station with instruments and pumps accessible, and close by Bike Zone rents and repairs bikes. The proposed 6.5-mile Bourne Rail Trail will finally join the Shining Sea Bikeway to the Cape Cod Canal Bikeway.
Cape Cod Canal Bikeway
The Cape’s finest on-the-water bike route
Bourne Bridge–Sagamore Bridge; 13.5 miles; 2 hours
The Cape Cod Canal Bikeway travels between the Bourne and Sagamore bridges alongside the north (7 miles) and south (6.5 miles) banks of the Cape Cod Canal. Biking right here supplies idyllic views of the canal and its boat visitors.
The bikeway is managed by the US Corps of Engineers, and numbered signposts (with corresponding brochures) mark factors of curiosity alongside the route, together with the purpose the place the waters of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay lastly met.
The Buzzards Bay, Herring Run, Bourne and Tidal Flats recreation areas on the Canal can all be accessed from the Bikeway, making this an ideal alternative for a picnic on a sunny day.
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Previous Colony Rail Path
Greatest Cape Cod facet journey
Harwich–Chatham; 7.5 miles; 2–3 hours
The Previous Colony Rail Path is a 7.5-mile paved path connecting Harwich to Chatham, and it is a straightforward add-on to the Cape Cod Rail Path. This spur branches off the Cape Cod Rail Path close to the Harwich Bicycle Rotary, and travels east to Crowell Highway in Chatham, from the place it’s straightforward to experience on the street to the outlets and eating places on Chatham’s stunning Principal Road.
The Previous Colony Rail Path passes a number of freshwater ponds, together with White Pond and the Chatham Municipal Airport, the place the Hanger B restaurant (open Wednesdays by way of Sundays, 7am to 2pm) is a favourite native cease for breakfast, lunch and low.
Province Lands Bike Path
Greatest experience to expertise the Cape Cod Nationwide Seashore
Provincetown; 5.5 miles; 1–2 hours
Simply north of Provincetown, the Province Lands Bike Trail is a 5.5-mile loop path on the very tip of the Cape, throughout the protected space of the Cape Cod Nationwide Seashore, with brief spur trails to Race Level Seaside (0.5 miles), Herring Cove Seaside (1.1 miles) and Bennett Pond (0.25 miles).
The principle path has 4 entry factors, together with at Province Lands Customer Heart, which overlooks Race Level Seaside. The loop path might be barely hilly because it winds by way of sand dunes and sand typically blows over the pavement in some areas, so bikes with wider tires are really helpful.
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Nauset Bike Marsh
Greatest biking path for households
Eastham; 1.6 miles; half-hour
Nauset Bike Marsh is a 1.6-mile path connecting the Salt Pond Customer Heart in Eastham to Coast Guard Seaside. It is recognized for its picturesque Coast Guard station and massive waves that appeal to surfers in summer season.
The Salt Pond Customer Heart is open year-round and entry is free, making this a good way to achieve this often-crowded Atlantic Ocean seaside. The brief path is nice for youthful riders and passes by way of shady forests on the way in which to the seaside.
Head of the Meadow Path
Greatest bike route for locating the Truro shoreline
Truro; 2 miles; 30-45 minutes
Two miles lengthy, the Head of the Meadow Path in Truro connects the parking space by the intersection of Cliff Highway and Excessive Head Highway to Head of the Meadow Seaside. Alongside the way in which, a small granite monument marks Pilgrim Spring, a freshwater spring utilized by pilgrims from the Mayflower, who landed right here in 1620 on Wampanoag land earlier than crusing on to Plymouth.
Biking this route is a good way to keep away from parking points on the seaside. At Head of the Meadow Seaside, there’s a motorcycle rack and restrooms, and lifeguards patrol the sands through the summer season.
At low tide, maintain your eyes peeled for the ribs of shipwrecks protruding of the shoals. From Head of the Meadow Seaside, an unpaved path continues for a brief distance to Coast Guard Seaside.
