Cape Cod Rail Trail

The Cape Cod Rail Trail is a 26-mile paved cycling and walking path that runs from South Dennis to Wellfleet, passing through Harwich along the way. The surface is smooth, the grade is flat (it follows an old railway bed), and the route winds through pine and oak forest, past kettle ponds, and alongside cranberry bogs that blaze red in autumn.

Harwich has several access points, including a well-used trailhead off Route 124. Bike rentals are available in Harwichport and along the trail. The section through Nickerson State Park in Brewster is particularly scenic. The trail is busy on summer weekends — early morning cycling gives you the woodland stretches largely to yourself.

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A story
The trail follows the bed of the Old Colony Railroad, which brought summer visitors to the Cape from the 1870s until passenger service ended in 1959. The route was converted to a bike path in the 1970s and is now one of the most heavily used rail trails in New England — the trains that once brought the tourists have been replaced by the tourists themselves, pedalling the same route.