Cape Cod Trails Conference Home Page
Long Walks on Cape Cod
Copyright 1995 Cape Cod Trails Conference
South Beach and Morris Island
USGS Map: Chatham
Trailhead: 1. Parking lot for Chatham Light
on Shore Road
in Chatham.
2. Morris Island Road causeway parking, just
north of Morris Island.
3. Monomoy Wildlife Refuge parking lot on
Morris Island.
NOTE: Trailhead 1 has signs limiting parking to 30 minutes.
To the best of our knowledge, the Chatham Police do not enforce
the ordinance, but it is crowded during the summer and early
fall. Best to use trailhead 2, then, which is the authorized
parking place. Trailhead 3 has room for only a few cars.
Do
not park on the roads anywhere else but trailhead 2.
Guide:
You will notice that the topographical map for
Chatham, issued
in 1974, shows Nauset Beach continuing south to a point well below
Morris Island. The storm of 1987 rearranged the landscape.
A break
opened to Chatham Harbor opposite Chatham Light, and the rest of the
sand spit attached itself to the mainland just below Chatham Light.
That is now called South Beach and is the first
half of this
walk. You can access the beach at the stairs from trailhead 1
or from a path just a little further south on Shore Road. Note
the
warning that portions of the area are submerged at high tide.
Head out to the ocean and walk along the edge of
the ocean. If
you walk on the damp area where the tide has receded, the footing will
be relatively firm, and the walking much less tiring. Notice the
remaining sand bar to your left, and Morris Island to your right.
At the east edge of South Beach, you will get the
feeling that
you are out in the middle of the ocean. As Henry David Thoreau
said,
"You can stand here, and all America is behind you!" As you walk
further south, the sand bar disappears, and the breakers crash
directly onto the beach.
Walking south, you pass one grassy knoll after
another to your
right. About one-half mile past the last knoll, the terrain begins
to become level. At this point, walk west to the harbor side of
South
Beach. Further south, you would get into a maze of tidal streams
and
pools, even at low tide.
As you walk west, you will be able to see South
Monomoy Island
to the south, and perhaps spot the lighthouse on it. North Monomoy
Island is directly in front of you. Turn north, heading for Chatham
Light. Harwichport and Dennisport are visible, beyond the entrance
to Stage Harbor.
At low tide, you will see clammers busy with their
rakes and
buckets. To residents, this vista is Cape Cod, and home.
To
visitors, it borders on the exotic. Look south from time to time
to
see the expanse of islands and shoals. To the west is the wildlife
refuge. You may see hundreds of birds of all makes and models.
Continue walking north, winding around the shore.
The footing
will be a little softer than on the ocean side, so experiment with
the damp areas to find the firmest surface. At the point where
you
start heading west to Morris Island, you will probably have walked
for two hours or more.
As you walk the shore to Morris Island, you will
encounter a
tidal creek from Outermost Harbor. At dead low tide, and on a
warm
day, you may choose to wade it. Otherwise walk around the
manufactured inlet that is labeled Outermost Harbor.
Pick up a sandy track that parallels Morris Island
Road to your
right. Walk it south to its end, that is where it meets a
perpendicular track. Ignore the large, stern sign on that path
that
states: "Private property. No trespassing. No hunting."
You may
continue east on that path to the shore. Then walk south along
the
beach. You will pass the stairs from trailhead 3.
You could also walk up to trailhead 3 on Morris
Island Road. The
marked trail from the entrance to the refuge, while short, is a very
popular walk. Descriptions of it are published in most guides
to Cape
Cod. Look at the map on the sign board, and help yourself to a
printed trail guide. Flora and fauna at the numbered stops are
described in it.
As you proceed down the trail, a lookout appears
on your left
which offers splendid views of South Beach and the Monomoy Islands.
A set of steps takes you down to the beach, and from there, trail
signs guide you along the way. If you walked around Morris Island
from trailhead 2, this is where you intersect the trail.
The trail leads you through the scrub in the interior,
and past
another entrance to the refuge. Soon the trail sign directs you
back
to the beach. Continue walking the trail to the southwest, which
is
obviously heavily used by locals. Shortly you will have a complete
view of Stage Harbor. You can continue all the way to the harbor
inlet, just opposite the old lighthouse.
This whole area is shown on the topographical map
as flooded at
high tide. It is now, of course, high and dry. The trail
eventually
meets a perpendicular track that goes to either side of the point.
You may choose to go to the right, then walk completely around the
point and return on the ocean side. About 1.5 miles of walking
brings
you back to the steps from the wildlife refuge trail.
If you use the Topo
Map (see link above), you will start at 001 and circle
counterclockwise to 013, then proceed either to 004 or 014 to return.
The whole walk is about ten miles. The South
Beach and Morris
Island sections are each about four to six miles, depending on where
you started from. You will do a little doubling back along the
shore
in each.
