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Biking the Lower Cape:
Brewster, Harwich, and Nickerson State Park

Distance: 23.1 miles
Terrain: Some moderate hills; mostly sheltered

This trail through Brewster, the Sea Captains' town, also takes you through a slice of Harwich's cranberry bogs, and it starts and finishes at Nickerson State Park, the state's oldest, largest, and most popular state park.

Originally, the park was the turn-of-the-century hunting resort of Roland C. Nickerson, a builder of railroads in the West. His parents had amassed the woodlot and ponds in the late 1800's that became their son's "Bungalow Estate." Roland imported elk, bear, and other prey into these woods for hunting guest, including President Grover Cleveland.

In 1934, Roland's widow and his daughter together donated 1750 acres of the hunting grounds as a state park. The red-roofed family mansion and carriage house, overlooking the King's Highway (Route 6A) and Cape Cod Bay, is now the Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club.

The park holds about 2000 acres, 400 campsites (for reservations contact Roland C. Nickerson State Park, Route 6A, Brewster, MA 02631, 508-896-3491), four ponds stocked with rainbow and brown trout, and a mile of waterfront on Cape Cod Bay.

Diagonally across town, the Punkhorn Parklands is comprised of 800 acres of deep woods between Brewster, Dennis, and Harwich, crisscrossed with old roads and paths to cranberry bogs and kettle ponds. Bought by the town between 1985 and 1988, the conservation area offers 45 miles of walking and off-road bicycling trails. Maps of the Punkhorn are available at Brewster Town Hall (c/o Conservation Commission, Route 6A, Brewster, MA 02631. 508-897-3701). Such stretches of open space, preserved from the past, are part of what defines Brewster.

To savor the Brewster portion of Cape Cod Bay, go west on Route 6A less than 0.1 mile from the entrance to Nickerson State Park and turn right onto Crosby Lane. To your left is the "window on the bay, " 90 acres of land and a mile of waterfront on Cape Cod Bay, added to the state park in 1987. You'll pass the Crosby Mansion, built in 1860 and now under restoration, on your way to the bay.

Beyond Crosby Lane, 0.3 mile on Route 6A, you'll find the Brewster Historical Society's Museum at Spruce Hill, a 25-acre parcel bought by the town of Brewster in 1985. The full Cape house, now the museum, was the 1840 homestead of the Kellers, the first Irish immigrants to settle in Brewster.

Beyond the house are trails through spruce trees, wildflowers, and a tupelo swamp to the dunes and beach on Cape Cod Bay. The walk is about a mile, round-trip, a good warm-up or reward for a bike ride.

Park at Nickerson State Park, Brewster, to the right of the main entrance. To reach this park from Route 6, take exit 12 and turn toward Brewster on Route 6A. The state park is well marked, on you left, about 2 miles away. There's an alternate parking lot, west of the main entrance, near the seasonal Idle Times Bike Shop.

• 0.0   Turn left (right from the alternate lot on to the Cape Cod Rail Trail path at the end of the parking lot.)
• 0.7   Cross Millstone Road. This is a very busy road, where cars usually travel fast.
• 2.2   Cross Underpass Road. The road was named after a now-gone railroad underpass.
• 2.7   Cross Long Pond Road (Route 137).
• 4.6   Cross Route 124. Seymour Pond is on your right and Black Pond on your left. You're now in the town of Harwich, the mother town of Brewster, which was Harwich's North Parish. This is a terrific spot for rest, a snack or a water break.
• 4.7   Cross Route 124 again. On your left is Long Pond, another scenic resting place, usually favored by a cooling breeze. To you right are several beautiful houses, overlooking the pond. Please respect other people's privacy and watch for private property signs. This pond covers more than 700 acres in Brewster and Harwich.
• 5.1   Cross Route 124 yet again. On your right, just before crossing Route 124, is the Pleasant Lake General Store, once a district school for South Brewster. This is your last chance for miles to stock up on drinks and supplies.
• 5.2 The trail veers away from Route 124 between vast cranberry bogs and Hinkleys Pond, a beautiful but exposed ride.
• 5.8   Turn left off the bike trail onto Headwaters Drive. Follow this road to Route 124. To your left are the redbrick buildings of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, serving students from Barnstable to Provincetown. Its student-run cafe is a great bargain during the school year.
• 6.1   Turn right onto Route 124 and cross Route 6. You'll pass a junkyard and antiques shop on your right, and highway exits on your left. Use caution here. The state is working to create a safe crossing for this stretch of the Cape Cod Rail Trail.
• 6.4   Turn right onto the bike trail, after passing two highway exit ramps (if you go too far, you'll pass the new parking lot for commuters who bus to Boston).
• 6.9   Cross Queen Anne Road. Since there's Kings Highway, it seems only fair that there be a Queen Anne Road, named in 1712 by Chatham in honor of the queen of England. The road stretches from Yarmouth to Chatham.
• 7.9   Bike through a tunnel under Main Street. Pass a blue-sided lumber-company building to your right
• 8.4   Cross Lothrop Avenue.
• 8.8   Cross Great Western Road. To your right you'll see a large cranberry bog, backed by "borrow" sites of sand; the sand is used to cover the cranberries to increase productivity. Soon you'll pass Bells Neck Road, a dirt road that runs between two reservoirs. Catch a last glimpse of the reservoirs' gleaming water as you cross the Herring River. You passed the river's mouth back at Hinkleys Pond, near Route 124.
• 9.6   Turn right onto Depot Street, leaving the bike trail. The big blue building on you right was a cranberry warehouse for processing and storage before the cranberries were shipped off-Cape by rail.
• 9.8   At the corner, turn right onto Great Western Road. Turn left quickly back onto Depot Street. In Harwich, the road's name is Depot Street. As you travel into Brewster, the road's name changes to Slough Road.
• 10.5   Enter Brewster on Slough Road.
• 11.5   Pass the intersection of Cranview Road, another entrance to the Punkhorn Parklands. To detour onto the Punkhorn's trails and roads, which are available to off-road bikes, turn right, and then turn left onto Black Duck Road, a dirt road, to walk around Walkers Pond. Don't go too far without a map; they're available at Brewster Town Hall on Route 6A. Even with one, you can get lost along these meandering paths.
• 11.7 Enjoy the occasional views along the way, such as the steep town landing to shady Walkers Pond on your right.
• 12.4   Turn right onto Setucket Road. This scenic road was the main road between Dennis and Brewster and will lead you onto the Stoney Brook Valley.
• 14.3   Cruise down the steep hill to the Stony Brook Grist Mill and Museum, and Herring Run on Mill Pond. This lovely place was once known as Factory Town, thanks to its water-powered gristmill, tannery, and mills. The first gristmill was here before 1677. The present mill was built in 1873 on the foundations of old fulling and woolen mills. Factories here made overalls and ice cream, and the mill still grinds corn in summer. The town purchased the mill site in 1940.
• Another major attraction is the Herring Run in late April and May. From Paines Creek on the bay 1.5 miles downstream, the herrings leap up ladders or steps, resting in deep pools before leaping again to reach their spawning grounds above the mill in Lower and Upper Mill Ponds and Walkers Pond. Rights to the herrings, valuable as fertilizer and pet food, were once sold to the highest bidder. Until declining fish stocks prompted a recent ban on fishing, residents dipped for their own herrings; the bony fish were locally prized for roe, for smoking, and for fertilizer. As you leave the mill, notice the house to your right, once a stagecoach stop when this road was the main route from Dennis.
• 14.5   Climbing a steep hill, pass Run Hill Road. Turn right to visit the Punkhorn Parklands and its 45 miles of hiking and biking trails. You'll travel past the town disposal area. The road then narrows before reaching the conservation area's gravel parking lot, 0.75 mile from Setucket Road. In the past, Punkhorn - probably meaning "rotten or spongy wood" - was what snobby town dwellers called their country neighbors. Now city dwellers love to escape to the Punkhorn. Before the woods grew back, the land was a sheep commons for residents. The rusted cars here were not dumped, but brought to their sites to power the pumps that flooded the cranberry bogs.
• 14.7   Turn left onto Pain Creek Road. This road parallels the descent of Stony Brook Valley to Paines Creek Marsh.
• 15.2   Turn left on Route 6A. Cross the marsh, where circling and calling gulls in the spring signal the arrival of the herrings.
• 15.5   On your right you'll find the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. The museum trails lead through the woods and marshes to Cape Cod Bay. For an affordable entry fee, you can enjoy excellent exhibits explaining the natural history and human history of what you see. (Write or call the museum: Route 6A, Brewster, MA 02653, 508-896-3867.)
• 15.6   Retrace your route along Route 6A, heading east. This portion of Route 6A, all the way back to Nickerson State Park, has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. Enjoy the elegant homes, antiques shops, bed & breakfasts, and art galleries along the road.
• 16.3   Stony Brook Road enters on your right. Soon after, turn right onto Tubman Road. Tubman Road is nice, shady ride, with old New England stone walls and lovely landscaping.
• 17.4   Cross Route 124 - again!
• 17.6   Bassett's Wild Animal Farm is on your right.
• 18.0   Bear right onto Route 137.
• 19.4   Turn left onto Millstone Road, just after Crocker Nurseries.
• 20.6   Turn right onto Cliff Pond Road. The pond, not accessible from here, is the largest of Nickerson State Park's freshwater ponds. Its name comes from the cliffs at the pond's western end.
• 20.7   Turn left onto Windswept Road.
• 20.8   The road ends at a red gate, an entrance to Nickerson State Park. Cross into the park.
• 23.1   Turn left onto the bike trail to return to the parking lots near the park's entrance. Or you can meander down the central road, past the park store and amphitheater, to the main entrance and parking lot.

Maps available at the park office will help you explore the 7.5 miles of paved trails that cover the roller-coaster hills of the park. The Park Trail parallels the park road, from the main buildings at the park entrance, through woods and around ponds for a round-trip of 6 mile. The Ober Trails veers off to your right as the Park Trail leaves the main parking area. A middle trail leaves the Ober Trail, ending near the park store. A fourth trail runs between the middle trail and Ober Trail and passes along a cedar swamp. A fifth trail leaves the Park Trail and climbs to circle the jewel of Ruth pond in the upper part of the park.