In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Mashnee Island

My first book, In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide, is now available at SchifferBooks.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Amazon.com, and stores everywhere!  Follow me on Twitter and YouTube for more on In My Footsteps.

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In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Bourne Recreation Area

The 4th video presented by In My Footsteps features another hidden gem. Although hundreds of thousands pass over the Bourne Recreation Area each year on the Bourne Bridge few know about it or stop there.  It is a unique mix of humming highway traffic with boats and birds.  There are picnic tables to relax and the Canal Bike Path passes right along.     
     My first book, In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide, is now available at SchifferBooks.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Amazon.com, in stores everywhere!  Follow me on Twitter!

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In My Footsteps: Trip 7: Cape Cod Canal - Mainland Side

In My Footsteps

Christopher Setterlund

Trip 7: Cape Cod Canal – Off-Cape Side

January 20, 2010


The Cape Cod Canal has too much to offer for one article to hold. This article deals with what lies across the bridges on the off-Cape side of the Canal. I decided to cross the Canal at the Bourne Bridge as it was closest to where I finished up on the Cape side. To cross the bridge follow Shore Road back to Trowbridge Road and round the rotary. The Bourne Bridge is nearly 1,000 feet longer than the Sagamore Bridge and sits 135-feet above the Canal.

Once across the bridge take the first exit off of the highway which remains Route 28. Follow it to the right and it will lead you through Buzzards Bay. After a few miles a left onto Canal Street will bring you face to face with the Railroad Bridge again. The Buzzards Bay Depot train station is a wonderful reminder of a simpler time. Dinner trains depart from this location Friday nights during the summer. Family supper trains depart on Monday evenings during the summer as well.

The next street over from the train station, Academy Drive, leads to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Established in 1891 it is the second oldest state maritime academy in the country. The campus is open to the public with visitor’s guides available at the campus or online. A 242-foot wind turbine sits on campus and is an imposing sight. On the way back down toward Route 28 on the left sits the Taylor Point Marina. A gas station for boats sits at the end of one of the docks complete with pumps and prices on top of said pumps. It was something I have not seen before.

Route 28 turns to the Route 6 Scenic Highway as you pass the Bourne Bridge and travel parallel to the Canal. On this mainland side of the Canal there are much better views. The overlook areas on the Cape side are far too small and come up on you much too quickly to really have a chance to stop and enjoy them. The mainland side sports two smaller rest areas and one larger spot complete with an information building. It is here that another hidden treasure of the Canal area is discovered.

The tiny village of Bournedale is home to a lovely herring run that travels underneath the highway and flows out into the Canal. In the spring the herring run is filled with the spawning fish, but taking of the fish is prohibited until further notice. It is look but don’t touch! The herring run leads to a surprising set of nature trails nestled in between the bustling Route 6 and Cape Cod Canal.

The Bournedale Hills trails take you through the woods and glacial boulders and lead you eventually to the Bourne Scenic Park at the feet of the bridge. Though the rushing of the highway traffic and the passing boats never fully fades there are points during this hilly hike that you will forget just what lies within a few hundred feet on either side. If you do not wish to take the full hike to the scenic park there are several opportunities to take stairs down to the bike path(right) which runs along the length of the Canal. This can be followed back to the parking area.

Route 6’s Scenic Highway ends up at the new Sagamore Flyover. Once congested by traffic thanks to a rotary at the foot of the Sagamore Bridge this section of roads is a much smoother ride. The area just to the east of the bridge has a few restaurants and lots of parking. It is a perfect spot to grab lunch after a long day of sightseeing.

For many this would end the trip along the Canal, but there is one more place that needs to be seen. The Scenic Highway if followed east becomes Scusset Beach Road. This will take you to the Cape Cod Bay end of the Canal and the long jetty that marks its end. Scusset Beach Road is about three miles long and leads you through a remote section of forest which makes up the Scussett Beach State Reservation. Here there are places to camp as well as the ending of the Canal bike path.

The jetty marking the end of the Canal is equipped with a breakwater light, red in color, which helps to guide ships safely into the Canal at night(right). There is a magnificent view of Plymouth and the giant white sandy cliffs running along the shore. Before leaving the Scusset Beach State Reservation there is one last place that must be seen and that is the Sagamore Hill Historic Site.

There is a parking lot directly across from the trails that are large enough for vehicles. The trail, about ¾ of a mile in length is easy to navigate and leads you up to a spot that was once a Native American meeting ground and later a World War II coastal fortification. The site possesses a great view of the homes along Sagamore and Scusset Beach as well as the White Cliffs in Plymouth(below).

After seeing one end of the Canal to the other from both sides it is still amazing to me that this waterway was totally man made and done in a time where technology was very primitive. That information makes the scope of this trip even more astonishing. So it doesn’t matter from which side you begin or end just start driving along this miracle of man; you will not be disappointed. Have fun and happy traveling!




Directions: Mass Maritime Academy: from Bourne Bridge take first exit. Turn right onto Rt. 28, follow it for a few miles. Turn left onto Academy Drive, Taylor Point Marina should be on your right as well.

Bournedale Hills Trails: Follow Rt. 28 east under Bourne Bridge, it becomes Scenic Highway. Continue on Scenic Highway for a few miles, the rest area where the trails are is designated by a sign. It is directly across from the Herring Run Motel.

Scusset Beach: Follow Scenic Highway east along Canal. Continue onto Meetinghouse Road, this will become Scusset Beach Road. Follow to the park and beach areas.

References: Sagamore Hill World War II Coastal Fortification
Mass Maritime History

Cape Cod Canal Recreation

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In My Footsteps: Trip 6: Cape Cod Canal - Cape Side

In My Footsteps

Christopher Setterlund

Trip 6: Cape Cod Canal – Cape Side
January 20, 2010



With so many destinations on the map when it comes to visiting Cape Cod, there are some very obvious ones that tend to get overlooked. One such place is seen by every single person who ever visits the Cape: the Cape Cod Canal. Stretching just over seventeen miles in length from Cape Cod Bay to Buzzards Bay and crossed by three bridges the Canal is a man made miracle that gets lost sometimes in the allure of the many beautiful beaches and shops of the Cape. This article is going to be all about the Canal and what there is to see along its shores. Being far too long it will be divided into an on Cape article and an off Cape article.

I began at the mouth of the Canal on the east side which empties into Cape Cod Bay. After a short walk across a very rocky beach I was lucky enough to arrive at the edge of the Canal just in time to watch a large ship from the Great Lakes area pass through and head out into the bay(left). At a maximum width of 540-feet the Canal sees over 20,000 ships pass through its waters annually.

Located a few hundred yards from the bay end of the Canal is a Power Plant owned and run by the Atlanta-based energy company, Mirant. A trail way leads from the mouth of the Canal back toward one of the visitor’s centers. Directly across from the visitor’s center is the Coast Guard station as they, along with many fishermen, operate out of the small harbor at the Sandwich Marina.
Route 6A is the best way to follow the Canal. There is a service road for authorized vehicles and bike trails running along either side of the waterway but most of the sights along the Canal can be driven to without a problem. Traveling along 6A, the first major sight is that of the Sagamore Bridge. Opened in 1935 and spanning 1,408 feet across the Canal, this bridge is the way to get onto the Cape from Boston and points north as it continues seamlessly from Route 3 to Route 6. The ‘Sagamore Flyover’ project, completed in 2006 replaced a rotary that caused traffic to become severely congested with an easier to navigate system of roads. 

Route 6A becomes Sandwich Road during its run along the Canal. Just before the Bourne Bridge rotary comes into sight Sandwich Road bears right. Follow this road and you will find yourself stepping into a hidden piece of Cape Cod, and United States history. Sandwich Road travels along a more secluded section of the Canal, passing directly under the Bourne Bridge(right). Unlike with the Sagamore Bridge there is a designated recreation area next to the bridge allowing visitors to park. People can get out and walk along the Canal while listening to the rush of highway traffic passing overhead. It is a soothing sort of hum. There are active railroad tracks which also pass along the Canal and they should be watched in case of trains. The bike path can be used to walk on and on warmer days it is highly recommended and highly populated by bicyclists, runners, and skaters.
Sandwich Road continues and it is along here that the visit to the Canal takes on a more historic twist. After passing by the Jonathan Bourne Library a right hand turn down Perry Avenue will lead you to the Aptucxet Trading Post museum. Built in 1627 it was the first trading post used by the fledgling Plymouth Colony. The building that stands is a replica of the original, but the museum houses excavated pieces of the nearly 400-year old building inside. Not to be missed as well sitting less than a hundred feet from the Aptucxet Trading Post museum is the Gray Gables railroad station. It was created for President Grover Cleveland whose summer home in Bourne was named Gray Gables. The building was moved to the Aptucxet grounds in 1976.

Aptucxet Road leads to Shore Road via a surprisingly beautifully painted overpass. Turn right and follow Shore Road to Bell Road and the third and final bridge along the Canal. The railroad bridge, built in 1935 and crossing the Canal near Buzzards Bay, was the largest vertical lift bridge in history when it was originally built. It is still right up there today. When raised it has a clearance of 135-feet. Near the Buzzards Bay end of the Canal sits a small cove where on this day hundreds upon hundreds of ducks and other water fowl congregated. No trains passed during my stop here but watching the railroad bridge(below) move is a spectacular sight to see.

Not to be lost in all of the sights and activities along the Cape side of the Canal is the fact that the entire waterway was man made. It is amazing to think of how technology was different when the project began nearly one hundred years ago. That information makes the whole scope of the trip even more remarkable. Stay tuned for the second part of this article focusing on the off-Cape side of the Canal. Have fun and happy traveling!

Directions: Cape Cod Bay end of the Canal: On Cape, take Rt. 6A into Sandwich, take a right onto Tupper Rd. to Town Neck Rd. Off Cape, take Exit 1C after crossing Sagamore Bridge, turn right onto Sandwich Road. Follow it just over a mile and take a left onto Tupper Rd.
Bourne Recreation Area: Follow Sandwich Rd. west along Canal. Bear right before Bourne rotary. Recreation area is right turn at foot of bridge.

Aptucxet Trading Post & Gray Gables: Follow Sandwich Rd. west along Canal, bear right before Bourne rotary, follow Sandwich Rd. into Bourne. Turn right onto Perry Ave., a quick left onto Aptucxet Road. The grounds are designated by a windmill and sign.

Railroad Bridge: Follow Sandwich Rd., turn right onto Shore Rd. Right turn onto Bell Rd. less than 1 mile away. Follow it to the Canal.

References: Bourne Historical Society

                     Cape Cod Canal Chamber of Commerce

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