Nauset Beach
Park at Nauset
Beach at the end of Beach Road in Orleans.
From the parking lot, walk out to
the beach on the boardwalk
near the north end. Walk north
on the beach. On your left is a
roped-off enclosure.
You are guided
by a rope or wire fence, with signs warning you
that the enclosure protects the
nesting area of shore birds. In
0.3 mile, a break in the enclosure
guides you back to the west.
Soon you get to a sandy track.
Walk north on it.
At 0.5 mile,
you come to the road to the beach from Nauset
Heights, the settled area on the
bluff to the west. Walk east
briefly, then north again on the
continuation of the sandy
track. At 0.8 mile, you come
to the edge of Nauset Harbor.
Off to your
left is the entrance to Mill Pond; further up is
the entrance to Town Cove.
Directly north you can see Nauset Light
winking at you, just to the left of
the old Coast Guard Station.
The light is actually one mile north
of the station.
Walk north
along the edge of Nauset Harbor, on the high tide
line. As you can see, this
whole area has been reconfigured since
the topographical map was last
updated in 1974. The storm of l978
piled enough sand on the spit you
are on to keep it high and dry at
high tide.
You will reach
the north end of the spit at 1.8 miles. Walking
in soft sand, as you noticed, is
slow and fatiguing. If you can
walk the line where the sand is
still damp, as the tide goes out,
the surface is almost as firm as a
woods path.
At low tide,
sand bars will appear to your north. During the
winter months, you may see a colony
of harbor seals on a bar. If
they happen to be on the spit, do
not approach closer than 100 yards.
Look for grey seals, as well.
Walk south on
the ocean beach. The Nauset Beach shacks are
soon visible. When you get
back to the parking lot, you can order
lunch, and use the rest rooms,
during the season! This north loop
is about 3.6 miles, and will take a
small group almost two hours,
because of slow going on the sand.
Pochet Island
Park at the
southwest corner of the parking lot for Nauset
Beach, at the end of Beach Road in
Orleans. From the parking
lot, a small paved road heads west,
turns south, then becomes
a sandy road. Walk south on
this track. The trail west
to Pochet Island is one and one-half
miles south.
The sand is
soft, but vehicle tracks usually offer a firmer
footing. In 0.6 mile, you pass
a boardwalk leading to the beach.
That is a private access route from
Pochet Neck. The parking area
at its west end is also private.
Soon Pochet
Island appears on your right, and little Pochet
Island dead ahead. In 1.5
miles, at the trail intersection, walk
west along the north edge of Little
Pochet Island until you reach
the road that crosses the wood
bridge (001).
Thanks
to Don Heyer, leader of the Eastham Hiking Club,
for scouting Pochet Island and submitting below:
Cross the
bridge to Pochet Island (002). The sign on the bridge must be
heeded, for both its warning and its
welcome. Remember the warning
in the introduction that you may not
camp, build a fire, or cut
anything on Cape Cod unless you are
in area where such is permitted.
We hope that
you have planned your walk to reach the bridge at
low tide in order to cross
dry. At high tide, the wade is a foot
or more in depth. Be sure to
check the tide chart for Pleasant Bay,
which has a high tide an hour later
than the ocean.
After crossing
the bridge, follow the track (003) up the hill and to
the right to the "new house"
(004).
Circle east around the house to the
north side and follow the trail that
leads directly north between the
sheds (005). At a fork a side
trail
goes north to an overlook of the marsh.
Continue to
the west (006)
and southwest on the main trail (007-009).
At the next fork, a side
trail will take you out to a lookout of Barley Neck.
and the town landing. A boat
dock is at the bottom of the bluff.
Continue south
on the main trail until you come to a T intersection (010).
Walk west on the main trail (east takes you back to the "new
house) and
continue south past a cabin
(011) to an overlook of Sampson Island and
Hog Island in Little Pleasant
Bay (012). Further south at (013) is a
lookout with a small bench. Return to the triangle on the main
road
(013-015) to exit the island, passing the old house near (010).
Cross the
bridge, then walk east to the beach. When you get out
onto the beach, you may be lucky
enough during the off season to see
the beach stretching for miles in
both directions, and absolutely no
one in sight. It is a rarity,
and you have to work hard to find it,
but it makes the whole walk
worthwhile. You could be in any century,
and the view would be the same!
If the day is
nice, walk back to the parking lot on the beach.
If not, you can return on the sandy
track. Do not cross the dunes
at any point other than those with
marked paths. The path which comes
from Pochet Island is marked number
one.
Just north of
number one, you may find that the beach is closed
in order to protect the nesting
areas for shore birds. They nest
during the late spring and early
summer. Then you will have to walk
the road back. From late
summer on, you are permitted to continue
north on the beach.
Unfortunately, the signs are not removed.
The walk is about five miles.
You should allow two and one-half hours
for it, with a small group.
Orleans Watershed
Walk north on this track to (003) on Cliff Pond Road. Walk
right until
you pass the new construction on the left. Circle around it to the
right
to pick up an old motorbike track heading north. At the first
fork (005),
head east and follow the track as it meanders mostly north, bearing
northwest at (008).
