Cape Cod National Seashore
Massachusetts
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.1 h fully dark
Hikes
Easy
🟢
Crowds
high
Open today
Open
Entrance
$25
No Lifeguards at Herring Cove Beach
There are no lifeguards on duty at Herring Cove Beach until additional lifeguards can be onboarded. Swim at your own risk.
No Lifeguards at Race Point Beach
There are no lifeguards on duty at Race Point Beach. Swim at your own risk.
The great Outer Beach described by Thoreau in the 1800s is protected within the national seashore. Forty miles of pristine sandy beach, marshes, ponds, and uplands support diverse species. Lighthouses, cultural landscapes, and wild cranberry bogs offer a glimpse of Cape Cod's past and continuing ways of life. Swimming beaches and walking and biking trails beckon today's visitors.
Activities
Topics
Entrance fees
$25.00 — Entrance - Private Vehicle
$20.00 — Entrance - Motorcycle
$15.00 — Entrance - Per Person
Hours & seasons
Beaches, parking areas, and trails are open year-round between 6 am and midnight.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 508-255-3421
✉ caco_information@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Typical crowds: high
Weather now: ⛅ Partly cloudy, 80°F
☁️ 83°/70°
☁️ 88°/72°
🌫️ 85°/71°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
17%
Feb
19%
Mar
23%
Apr
36%
May
49%
Jun
67%
Jul
88%
Aug
100%
Sep
72%
Oct
46%
Nov
27%
Dec
20%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Hike the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail · 1.2 mi
Head of the Meadow Bike Trail · 2 mi
Take a Break on Cape Cod's Beaches · <p>You can spend a few hours on the beach, or pack a lunch and plan an entire day in the sun.</p>
Hike the Pilgrim Spring Trail · 1 mi
Hike the Doane Trail · 0.6 mi
🟢 Bike the Nauset Bike Trail · 2 mi · <p>You can ride your bicycle on the trail as long as you like, but the entire trail can be covered (without stops) in 30-60 minutes.</p>
🟢 Bike the Province Lands Bike Trail · 7 mi
Visit the Eastern National Park Store
Visitor centers
Province Lands Visitor Center
Salt Pond Visitor Center
Accessibility
37 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Cape Cod National Seashore — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Cape Cod National Seashore — each spans a cross-park journey.
Roger Williams – Minister, Merchant, Magistrate
— Roger Willaims, Puritans, MassachusettsPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Highland Light
🎫 Marconi Station Site
🎫 Old Harbor Life-Saving Station
🎫 Salt Pond Visitor Center
Places to see
Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail
audio
Bay View House
audio
Beach View House
audio
Beech Forest Trail
audio
Buttonbush Trail
audio
Coast Guard Beach
audio
Doane Trail
audio
Fort Hill Trail
audio
Great Island Trail
audio
Head of the Meadow Beach
audio
Head of the Meadow Bike Trail
audio
Herring Cove Beach
audioAudio & media
Learn more
Recipients of the 2006 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
A visit to the Grand Canyon after college and Leslie Reynolds was hooked. Little did she know her love of national parks would take her on an incredible journey of public service and adventures in parks across the country. As the current chief ranger at Cape Cod National Seashore, Reynolds continues to inspire the new generation of park rangers and lead through example.
Cape Cod is a large glacial moraine peninsula that extends 96.5 km into the Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Massachusetts. Cape Cod National Seashore (CACO) is located on the outer portion of Cape Cod. Almost all the estuarine habitat at CACO is associated with two large coastal lagoon systems, Pleasant Bay (PB) and Nauset Harbor/Marsh (NH). Due to restricted flushing with the ocean and residential development pressures outside the seashore boundary...
The 2025 Veterans Fire Corps crew hosted by the Allegheny Fire Management Zone headquartered at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve had the opportunity to help multiple parks within the NPS' Northeast Region with prescribed fire and fuels projects.
Few employees have left as visible a mark on National Park Service (NPS) exhibits as John A. Segeren. His work has been enjoyed by generations of park visitors who never knew his name but appreciated his intricate wood carvings and playful animal figures displayed in parks throughout the system. A master woodcarver described by former President Lyndon B. Johnson as "a legacy to this country," Segeren carved out his own place in NPS history.
Biologists use a variety of research techniques to study bats at Cape Cod National Seashore. With its diverse habitats, from dunes to interior forests, the seashore supports a number of regionally rare bat species.
Fall migration and more on the Northern Long-eared bat in Cape Cod National Seashore.
Learn more about Cape Cod's Bark Ranger Program!
How Cape Cod National Seashore connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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Activity
Topic
State
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
Trail
ThingToDo
Alert
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