Cape Cod National Seashore

Protected area on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Cape Cod National Seashore

IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Official logo

Location| Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA
Nearest city| Barnstable, Massachusetts
Coordinates| 41°50′14″N 69°58′22″W﻿ / ﻿41.83722°N 69.97278°W﻿ / 41.83722; -69.97278
Area| 43,607.14 acres (176.4718 km2)[1]
Established| August 7, 1961
Visitors| 3,968,672 (in 2022)[2]
Governing body| National Park Service
Website| Cape Cod National Seashore

The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) encompasses 43,607 acres (68.1 sq mi; 176.5 km2)[1] on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy,[3][4] when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years prior.[5] It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includes nearly 40 miles (64 km) of seashore along the Atlantic-facing eastern shore of Cape Cod, in the towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham. It is administered by the National Park Service.

## Places of interest[edit]

Notable sites encompassed by the CCNS include Marconi Station (site of the first two-way transatlantic radio transmission), the Highlands Center for the Arts (formerly the North Truro Air Force Station), the Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars Historic District (a 1,950-acre historic district containing dune shacks and the dune environment), and the glacial erratic known as Doane Rock.

A former United States Coast Guard station on the ocean in Truro is now operated as a 42-bed youth hostel by Hostelling International USA.[6]

There are several paved bike trails:[7]

* Nauset Bike Trail—Eastham
* Head of the Meadow Trail—Truro
* Province Lands Trails—Provincetown

There are several excellent beaches along the coastline with public facilities available seasonally. These include Race Point Beach in Provincetown and Coast Guard Beach in Eastham.[8] Both of these have made "top beaches in the US" lists over the years.[9][10]

## Fauna local to the area[edit]

You can find many species of animals, depending on the time of year you visit. In the fall, you may see a kaleidoscope of Monarch butterflies. In the winter, you can find harbor seals and red-throated loons. In spring, you may see a woodcox doing their mating rituals, or whales out in the ocean. Summer brings plovers and songbirds like orioles and warblers. Other animals you may see around Cape Cod National Seashore include the great blue heron, mute swans, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons.[11]

Amphibians seen at CCNS wetland areas include Fowler's Toads and Eastern Spadefoot toads.[12]

## Restoration and conservation efforts[edit]

As part of the NPS Centennial Initiative, the Herring River estuary will be restored to its natural state through removal of dikes and drains that date back to 1909.[13]

In 2010, the North of Highland Campground was protected with a conservation easement. The Trust for Public Land, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, the Truro Conservation Trust, and other groups led a grassroots campaign to support the funding for the purchase price of the conservation easement from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), secured by U.S. Senator John Kerry, U.S. Representative Bill Delahunt, and former Senator Ted Kennedy.[14][15]

The Biddle Property, home of the late Francis Biddle, who was the U.S. attorney general during WWII and served as the primary American judge during the post-war Nuremberg trials, was added to the Cape Cod National Seashore in 2011. Using funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Trust for Public Land purchased the property and conveyed it to the National Park Service.[16][17]

As part of the restoration efforts, a number of run-down and unsafe buildings of no historical significance will be removed from areas around CCNS and the affected lands will be restored. The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) has provided more than $8 million to oversee this project that is to begin in 2023.[18]

## Gallery[edit]

* An entrance to the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, Massachusetts

* Cape Cod National Seashore

* Nauset Light

* View from Highland Light

* Marconi Beach

* Late July Sunset at Race Point Beach

* Salt Pond Visitor Center

## See also[edit]

* Coast Guard Beach (Eastham, Massachusetts)
* East Harbor
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape Cod National Seashore
* Nauset Light Beach
* Race Point Light

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2014" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-08-26. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
2. ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
3. ^ "Bill signing - S. 857 Public Law 87-126, Cape Cod National Seashore Act, 11:47AM". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
4. ^ "Cape Cod National Seashore Act - P.L. 87-126" (PDF). 75 Stat. 284 ~ Senate Bill 857. U.S. Government Printing Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
5. ^ Kennedy, John F. (1961). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Office of the Federal Register National Archives and Records Service. pp. 551-552.
6. ^ "HI Truro Hostel". HI USA. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
7. ^ Wellfleet, Mailing Address: 99 Marconi Site Road; ranger, MA 02667 Phone: 508-255-3421 To speak to a park; Us, call 508-255-3421 for visitor information Contact. "Walking Trails - Cape Cod National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
8. ^ Shortsleeve, Cassie (May 22, 2018). "The Best Beaches on Cape Cod". Conde Nast Traveller. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
9. ^ "19 Beach Vacations That Don't Require a Passport". 22 May 2015.
10. ^ "The 25 Best Beaches in America, According to You! - Coastal Living". Archived from the original on 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
11. ^ Burk, John S. (2011). The wildlife of New England : a viewer's guide (1st ed.). Durham, N.H.: University of New Hampshire Press. ISBN 9781611680096.
12. ^ Timm, Brad C. (March 2014). "Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) Activity Patterns on a Roadway at Cape Cod National Seashre". Journal of Herpetology. 48 (1) - via JSTOR.
13. ^ "Herring River Tidal Restoration Project". National Park Service. July 2011. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
14. ^ "Cape Cod Campground Permanently Protected".
15. ^ "Truro campground owner wins $2.4M conservation easement". Wicked Local.
16. ^ "Biddle Property".
17. ^ "Biddle property acquisition is plum for Park". Wicked Local.
18. ^ "Cape Cod National Seashore to Receive Funding from Great American Outdoors Act for Deferred Maintenance Projects". States News Service. January 4, 2023.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cape Cod National Seashore.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Cape Cod National Seashore.

* Cape Cod National Seashore. National Park Service website.
* Coastal Landforms and Processes at the Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts: A Primer U.S. Geological Survey
* National Park Service map
* "The Penniman House: A Whaling Story". A National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan.
* Portnoy, J. W. et al., Kettle Pond Data Atlas for Cape Cod National Seashore: Paleoecology and Modern Water Chemistry April 2001, 118 pp., Retrieved June 23, 2018.

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United States National Lakeshores, National Seashores, and National Rivers

National Lakeshores|

* Apostle Islands
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National Seashores|

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National Rivers|

* Alagnak WR
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Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

| National Historical Parks|

* Adams
* Blackstone River Valley
* Boston
* Lowell
* Minute Man
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|

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

Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Sudbury
* Assabet
* Concord
* Taunton
* Westfield

Other Protected Areas|

* 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
* Governor Thomas Dudley
* 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 Branch Rail Trail
* Quabbin Reservoir
* Southwest Corridor Park
* Squantum Point Park
* Streeter Point Recreation Area
* Sudbury Reservoir
* Wachusett Reservoir
* Ware River Watershed Area

State Forests

* Barnstable
* Beartown
* Berkley
* Billerica
* Brimfield
* Chester-Blandford
* DAR
* Douglas
* Erving
* F. Gilbert Hills
* Federated Women's Club
* Franklin
* Freetown-Fall River
* Georgetown-Rowley
* Gilbert A. Bliss
* Granville
* Harold Parker
* Kenneth Dubuque Memorial
* Leominster
* Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro
* Manuel F. Correllus
* Mohawk Trail
* Monroe
* Mount Grace
* Mount Washington
* Myles Standish
* October Mountain
* Otter River
* Pittsfield
* Sandisfield
* Savoy Mountain
* Shawme-Crowell
* Spencer
* Tolland
* Upton
* Wendell
* Willard Brook
* Warren H. Manning
* Willowdale
* Windsor

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 Spit
* 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

* Agassiz Rock
* Governor Oliver Ames Estate
* Appleton Farms
* Appleton Farms Grass Rides
* Ashintully Gardens
* Bartholomew's Cobble
* Bear's Den
* Bear Swamp
* Boston Community Gardens
* The Brickyard
* Bullitt
* Chestnut Hill Farm
* Colonel John Ashley House
* Dunes' Edge Campground
* Francis William Bird Park
* Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate
* Bridge Island Meadows
* Brooks Woodland
* William Cullen Bryant Homestead
* Cape Poge
* Cedariver
* Castle Hill
* Chapel Brook
* Charles River Peninsula
* Chase Woodlands
* Chesterfield Gorge
* Coolidge
* Copicut Woods
* Cormier Woods
* Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge
* Crane Beach
* Crane Wildlife Refuge
* Crowninshield Island
* Dexter Drumlin
* Dinosaur Footprints
* Doane's Falls
* Doyle
* Dry Hill
* East Over
* Elliott Laurel
* Farandnear
* FARM Institute
* Field Farm
* Fruitlands Museum
* Fork Factory Brook
* Glendale Falls
* Goose Pond
* Greenwood Farm
* Hales Brook and Sippican River
* Halibut Point
* Hamlin
* Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens
* Holmes
* Governor Hutchinson's Field
* Jacobs Hill
* Little Tom Mountain
* Land of Providence
* Leatherbee Woods
* Long Hill
* Long Point
* Lowell Holly
* Lyman Reserve
* Malcolm
* Mashpee River
* McLennan
* Medfield Meadow Lots
* Medfield Rhododendrons
* Menemsha Hills
* Misery Islands
* Mission House
* Monument Mountain
* Moose Hill Farm
* Moraine Farm
* Mount Ann Park
* Mount Warner
* Mountain Meadow
* Mytoi
* Naumkeag
* Noanet Woodlands
* Noon Hill
* Norris
* North Common Meadow
* Norton Point Beach
* Notchview
* Old Manse
* Old Town Hill
* Peaked Mountain
* Pegan Hill
* Peters
* Petticoat Hill
* Pierce
* Pine and Hemlock Knoll
* Powisset Farm
* Questing
* Quinebaug Woods
* Ravenswood Park
* Redemption Rock
* Rock House
* Rocky Narrows
* Rocky Woods
* Royalston Falls
* Shattuck
* Signal Hill
* Slocum's River
* Stavros
* Stevens-Coolidge
* Swift River
* Tantiusques
* Tully Lake Campground
* Two Mile Farm
* Tyringham Cobble
* Ward
* Wasque
* Weir Hill
* Weir River Farm
* Westport Town Farm
* Whitney and Thayer Woods
* World's End

Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuaries

* Allens Pond
* Arcadia
* Ashumet Holly
* Attleboro Springs
* Barnstable Great Marsh
* Blue Hills Trailside Museum
* Boston Nature Center
* Broad Meadow Brook
* Broadmoor
* Burncoat Pond
* Canoe Meadows
* Daniel Webster
* Drumlin Farm
* Eagle Lake
* Eastern Point
* Endicott
* Felix Neck
* Flat Rock
* Graves Farm
* Great Neck
* Habitat
* High Ledges
* Ipswich River
* Joppa Flats
* Kettle Island
* Lake Wampanoag
* Laughing Brook
* Lime Kiln Farm
* Lincoln Woods
* Long Pasture
* Lynes Woods
* Marblehead Neck
* Moose Hill
* Museum of American Bird Art
* Nahant Thicket
* Nashoba Brook
* North Hill Marsh
* North River
* Oak Knoll
* Pierpont Meadow
* Pleasant Valley
* Poor Farm Hill
* Richardson Brook
* Road's End
* Rough Meadows
* Rutland Brook
* Sampsons Island
* Sesachacha Heathlands
* Skunknett River
* Stony Brook
* Wachusett Meadow
* Waseeka
* Wellfleet Bay
* Wildwood Camp

Other

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

* Category
* Boston
* Emerald Necklace
* Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
* Commons

Authority control

International|

* VIAF

Other|

* NARA

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