Wellfleet · RedAwning

Cape Cod65 miles of hooked peninsula, 40 miles of National Seashore, eight historic lighthouses, and the Mayflower's first landfall in 1620

A 65-mile hooked peninsula curving east and north into the Atlantic from the Sagamore Bridge to Provincetown's Race Point. The 40-mile Cape Cod National Seashore — established by President Kennedy on August 7, 1961 — protects the outer beaches, Highland Light (1797, the Cape's oldest), the Marconi Wireless Station site, and Province Lands dunes. Fifteen towns share the peninsula, from year-round Sandwich and Hyannis to summer-only outposts like Wellfleet and Truro.

Hours todayOpen 24 hrs – undefinedMonday hours
TicketsFrom $25National Seashore beach (per car)
LocationWellfleet, Massachusetts99 Marconi Site Road
Official sitenps.govPlan your visit

65 miLength
40 miNational Seashore
8Lighthouses
1961Seashore est.

Cape Cod is a 65-mile hooked glacial moraine reaching east from the Sagamore and Bourne bridges, then bending sharply north at Chatham and curling back west into Cape Cod Bay at Provincetown's Race Point. The Mayflower made first landfall here on November 11, 1620 in what is now Provincetown Harbor, where the Pilgrim Compact was signed before the ship continued on to Plymouth. Fifteen towns share the peninsula — Sandwich (the oldest, founded 1637), Falmouth, Mashpee, Barnstable (with Hyannis as its commercial center), Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster, Harwich, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown.

The 40-mile Cape Cod National Seashore, established by President John F. Kennedy on August 7, 1961 as one of his first major conservation acts, protects the outer-Atlantic beaches from Coast Guard Beach in Eastham to Race Point in Provincetown — Marconi Beach, Nauset Light Beach, Head of the Meadow, Herring Cove. Eight historic lighthouses still stand: Highland Light (1797, the Cape's oldest, now in Truro), Nauset Light (1877, the red-and-white Cape Cod Potato Chip lighthouse), Chatham Light, Race Point, Wood End, Long Point, Stage Harbor, and Nobska Point in Falmouth. Provincetown's 252-foot Pilgrim Monument (1907–1910) is the tallest all-granite structure in the United States.

Plan four to seven days to do the Cape properly — fewer if you're staying in one town, more if you're working west from Sandwich to Provincetown. Cross the bridges before 1 PM Friday or after 8 PM to avoid the I-95 South / Route 6 backup. Lower Cape (Sandwich to Yarmouth) is family-friendly with calm bayside beaches; Mid-Cape (Dennis to Orleans) has the Cape Cod Rail Trail and the Brewster Flats; Outer Cape (Eastham to Provincetown) is the National Seashore and is the only stretch with the dramatic outer-beach surf and Atlantic dune landscapes. Whale-watching season runs April through October; oyster season, weirdly, peaks in October at the Wellfleet OysterFest.

Cape Cod National Seashore
Forty-three thousand acres of dune, beach, kettle pond, and Atlantic shoreline running 40 miles from Eastham to Provincetown. Established by President Kennedy on August 7, 1961. Six lifeguarded ocean beaches — Coast Guard, Nauset Light, Marconi, Head of the Meadow, Race Point, Herring Cove. Two visitor centers (Salt Pond in Eastham, Province Lands in P-town).
Highland Light
The oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod, built in 1797 on the Truro cliffs and moved 450 feet inland in 1996 to escape erosion. The current 66-foot brick tower replaced the original wooden one in 1857. Open for 69-step tower climbs (ages 6+, 48-inch height minimum) May through October — $8 adult, $4 child. Adjacent keeper's house is a free National Park Service museum.
Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum
A 252-foot all-granite tower at the top of High Pole Hill in Provincetown, built 1907–1910 to commemorate the Mayflower's first landfall on November 11, 1620. The tallest all-granite structure in the U.S. — 116 steps and 60 ramps to the top, with a sweeping view of Provincetown Harbor and the dunes. Adult $18; included museum covers Pilgrim history and P-town's 19th-century artist colony.
Provincetown whale watch
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary lies 6 miles offshore — humpback, fin, minke, and the endangered North Atlantic right whale all feed there April through October. The Dolphin Fleet (the original whale-watch operator, since 1975) runs 3.5-hour trips from MacMillan Wharf, $65 adult, multiple sailings daily. 95% sighting rate per their own count; bring a windbreaker even on hot days.
Cape Cod Rail Trail
A 25.7-mile paved bike path on the abandoned Old Colony Railroad bed, running from South Yarmouth through Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, and Eastham to South Wellfleet. Spurs to Chatham (8 miles) and Coast Guard Beach (3 miles). Mostly flat, well-shaded, with dozens of cafés along the route — bike rental shops sit at every endpoint. Free.
JFK Hyannis Museum
397 Main Street, Hyannis. A multimedia museum about JFK's life on Cape Cod — 80 photographs and home videos from the Kennedy compound, the campaign, and the family's six summer decades on the Hyannisport peninsula. The compound itself is private; the JFK Memorial sits on Veterans Beach two miles east. Adult $12, daily 10 AM–5 PM in season.
Wellfleet OysterFest
The peninsula's signature October weekend (third Saturday and Sunday) — 25,000 attendees, 50+ vendors, the Sunday shuck-off where Massachusetts champion shuckers open 24 oysters for time. Wellfleet Harbor has been farming oysters since the 1600s; Mac's Shack and PJ's Family Restaurant on Commercial Street sell them fried, raw, and grilled all year.
Race Point Beach
Provincetown's National Seashore beach at the very tip of the Cape — the only east-coast beach where you can watch the sun both rise and set over the Atlantic. Four-wheel-drive permits ($150 season) allow off-road driving on Hatches Harbor sand roads; without one, walk the 1.5 miles from the Race Point parking lot to the lighthouse keeper's quarters (rentable through American Lighthouse Foundation).

Open hours

Cape Cod is a public peninsula — Route 6 and Route 6A are open year-round, 24/7. National Seashore beach lots collect a daily fee Memorial Day through Labor Day; visitor centers (Salt Pond in Eastham, Province Lands in Provincetown) run 9 AM–4:30 PM in season, weekends only off-season. Most restaurants, ferries, and seasonal attractions close mid-October and reopen Memorial Day weekend.

MondayTodayOpen 24 hrs
TuesdayOpen 24 hrs
WednesdayOpen 24 hrs
ThursdayOpen 24 hrs
FridayOpen 24 hrs
SaturdayOpen 24 hrs
SundayOpen 24 hrs

Note · The Sagamore and Bourne bridges back up severely Friday afternoons (June–August) — cross before 1 PM or after 8 PM, or detour through Plymouth. Whale-watch boats from MacMillan Wharf in Provincetown depart 8:30 AM–4:30 PM mid-April through October.

Ticket pricing

Per-person admission. Buy in advance to skip the gate line.

National Seashore beach (per car)$25Daily fee at six lifeguarded beaches, Memorial Day–Labor Day
National Seashore — annual pass$60Unlimited Cape Cod NS beach parking, season
Highland Light tower climb$8May–October; 69-step lighthouse, ages 6+ (must be 48 in. tall)
Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum$18Adult; 252-foot tower with stair climb, daily 9 AM–5 PM
JFK Hyannis Museum$12397 Main Street, Hyannis; multimedia exhibits on the Kennedys
Whale watch from Provincetown$653.5-hour Stellwagen Bank trip; Dolphin Fleet daily April–October

The Cape itself is free to drive — only specific attractions and lifeguarded National Seashore beaches charge. America the Beautiful pass holders skip the $25 daily beach fee at Marconi, Coast Guard, Nauset Light, Head of the Meadow, Race Point, and Herring Cove. Town-owned beaches (Skaket, Mayflower, Lighthouse) sell daily passes at the gate, $20–$30 depending on town.

Plan your Cape visit

Where to stay