From Provincetown to Race Point Light

Race Point Lighthouse

The Race Point Light Station on Outer Cape Cod is located on a sand dune peninsula between Hatches Harbor and the Atlantic seaside where Massachusetts Bay continues southward as Cape Cod Bay. The site includes the preserved Race Point Lighthouse, the Keeper's house and a Whistle house. 

Lighthouse and Keeper's house

You may access the site via sand-dune tour with a four-wheel drive vehicle on permit basis. Alternatively, if you prefer an un-motorized bicycling or hiking day trip, you can make one happen by heading out of Provincetown on Conwell Street to get to the Province Lands Bicycle Trail loop as described in my recent Herring Cove/Hatches Harbor post. Then, at the Beech Forest parking area, turn right on to the bicycle loop and follow the paved two-lane trail to the Province Lands Visitor Center and beyond to Race Point Beach, from where you want to walk westward along the sandy beach. 

Race Point Beach

The two miles between the Old Harbor Life-Saving Station Museum at Race Point Beach and Race Point Light offer the most spectacular scenery as you follow the shoreline bending from Cape Cod's northern tip to the most western point with views across Cape Cod Bay.

Seabirds at the Race Point shoreline

Intertidal and subtidal sand bars attract seabirds and seals. Stellwagen Bank to the north creates a hospitable environment for a diverse marine wildlife.

Seals hanging out in shallow water

The submarine topography of banks and basins provide for productive fishing grounds. But, the shifting underwater landscape in combination with severe weather events resulted in many maritime disasters. A panel at the Province Lands Visitor Center points out occurrences of fatal voyages underlined by nearby shipwrecks:

Along Cape Cod and through Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, an ocean highway guides ships transporting people and goods to and from Boston and the Massachusetts ports. Unfortanately, over the past 400 years, numerous vessels have been lost to storms, collisions, and shifting shoals. Today, these shipwrecks serve as a window to the past.

Lighthouses played and still play an important role in guiding ships and saving lives. The Race Point Light Historic Site is an excellent location to reflect about coastal dynamics, hazards and safety. 

Water and seaweed flowing in with rising tide along a shoreline trough