Cape Cod Trails Conference Home Page
Long Walks on Cape Cod
Copyright 1998 Cape Cod Trails Conference
Nickerson State Park
USGS
Map:
Harwich, Orleans (partial)
Trailheads:
1. Parking
lot west of entrance to park, off
Route 6A in Brewster.
2. End of Flax Pond Road. Drive in main
road, take first left, follow to end.
3. Fishermen's Landing on Cliff Pond. Drive
on main road approximately 1.6 miles, left
on dirt road at sign.
Guide:
Nickerson State Park can be hiked in fall,
winter, and
spring, but not in the summer. Hordes are encamped in the
park
during the summer, and the poison ivy covers the trails.
Hiking trails are marked around Cliff Pond
and Flax Pond,
using the blue triangles. The markings are reliable, if that's
what you want to do. You will also notice cross-country ski
markers, and occasionally see red horse trail markers.
Beginning at the main entrance parking
lot (001), walk southeast
through the little woods, cross over the main road, then pick up
the bike trail on the other side. Follow it to the utility
right
of way (002). Then walk east along the woods on the south side
of the
right of way.
In
about 0.2 mile, you will walk around
a pit. Immediately
after, a hiking trail is visible heading southeast into the
woods (003).
It's a pretty walk through tall trees and over a steep
hill (004-005).
At the bottom of the hill, a woods road cuts in (006). You can't
go any
further, anyway; a swamp lies ahead.
Walk
northeast on the woods road to a triangle
of paths (007).
Curve
around to the right, walking uphill until the second intersecting
path goes off the right. Actually, either one will do, but
the
second path is more visible. If you continue uphill, you
will
wind up in the Robinwood housing development.
Continue until you intersect the telephone
right of way (008).
Follow it until you reach a foot path on the left (009). Walk
south
briefly
to another woods road (010). Walk southeast on it to a parking
lot near the shore of Cliff Pond (011). Look for a foot path
heading
east along the north shore of Little Cliff Pond (015). Continue
to cross
a wide dirt road between Little Cliff Pond and Higgins Pond, just above
a
gate (016). Note:
(012-014) have been deleted. The walk through
"Fox Den" is now blocked by building
lots.
Look
for a footpath heading east along the north shore of Higgins
Pond. Ignore the side trails until you get to a point near the
east shore
of the pond. Then continue due east on the wide footpath
away from
the pond. You will reach another wide dirt road,
in another 0.2 mile.
(017). Walk south on it as it leads you around Higgins Pond (018-019).
The
road ends just west of Eel Pond, which is itself just below Higgins
Pond.
It is also possible to explore paths to Higgins Pond, and walk
along
it
until you reach the woods road, but for that you are on your own.
At
the T intersection, you could go left,
reach the southern
perimeter of the park, and follow the bike path to the west.
We
suggest walking north for 0.1 mile to pick up another woods road
to the west (020). This one takes you to Little Cliff Pond,
crossing
a
paved camping entrance road on the way.
At
Little Cliff Pond, choose either shore
to follow the
trail markers
north to Cliff Pond (021-024). At Cliff Pond, you can
walk
north past
the boat landing to trailhead 2 above. You can
then
return to trailhead
1 directly by walking west on the Cliff Pond
Trail around the north shore
for 0.3 mile to the picnic grove described below.
Or to
continue the long walk, head south
around Cliff Pond,
following the trail markers (025-029). In about 0.8 mile, you
will
be
walking along the shore of Cliff Pond above a marsh which used
to be Grassy Nook Pond. This is an excellent spot for lunch.
You
can continue around Cliff Pond following
the trail
markers,
or take a scenic detour. If you go south just past
Grassy Nook (030),
you will walk a paved road for a bit to reach the bike path at the
southern perimeter of the park (031)..
Walk
west on the dirt path that parallels
the paved path, to
avoid
preventing a hazard to bikers (032). Follow the sign to Ruth
Pond,
at
0.4 mile (033). Make a sharp turn to the right on the bike path
at
another 0.5 mile, reaching the pond at another 0.2 mile (034).
Walk
down
to the shore on the side path. It is an unspoiled, wild
environment.
Circle Ruth Pond and continue northeast
through the pine grove
planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the '30s (035).
When
you
get to Nook Road (paved, two-lane) (036), look for the sign to
Fishermen's
Landing across the road. Walk east 0.1 mile to the shore
of Cliff
Pond (037). You are now at trailhead 3, 2.4 miles from trailhead
2.
Now
hike north around the shore of Cliff
Pond. You may need to
dogleg around the shore at 0.2 mile (038). At 0.6 mile, you pass
a little
side pond on the left (039). Trailhead 2 is 0.4 mile ahead around the
pond.
Turn north through a picnic grove and follow the path up the hill
and
over to Flax Pond, which will be directly north (040).
Walk
around the west shore of Flax
Pond and walk uphill
to the
camping area above the north shore (041-042). A telephone right
of
way goes off to the left. Follow it directly west to the
main
road, cross over (043), and pick up the bike trail heading west.
Walk
the bike trail west for 0.2 mile until
a cross-country
skiing marker appears on your right, marking a dirt path.
Follow
it north about 0.4 mile to the entrance parking lot. If you
happen
to reach the Cape Cod Rail Trail, you've gone a bit too far.
But
just walk to the right, then right again immediately.
Altogether, this has been a ten mile hike,
avoiding the paved
paths as much as possible. Nickerson Park is spectacular
in the
fall, when the trees have colored foliage, and only an occasional
fisherman shares the solitude with you.
In
the winter, a rare but occasional snowfall
will cover the
bike paths sufficiently to make long runs possible on your skis.
Spring on Cape Cod is merely a milder extension of winter, but
you can see much more through the trees. No wonder that
Nickerson is the jewel of the state parks!
