Pilgrim Spring Trail, Cape Cod

Pilgrim Spring Trail

Pilgrim Spring Trail is a short interpretive loop trail through pitch pine and bear oak forest. Like its neighbor loop trail, Small's Swamp Trail, it leads to a scenic vista point and features some posts highlighting selected native plants alongside its path. The sand dunes between Pilgrim Heights and the Atlantic Ocean—and the area of parabolic dunes farther north—define the coastal landscape of the Outer Cape at North Truro.

Outer Cape with dunes and North Atlantic seen from a Pilgrim Spring Trail vista point

Acorns of Bear Oak (Quercus ilicifolia, beech family) with their saucer-shaped, reddish-brown cup covering about half the nut

Pilgrim Spring Trail also connects with the paved Head of the Meadow Bicycle Trail. At the connection point, you will find a historic marker and an interpretive panel.

Pilgrim Spring Trail/bicycle path connection with historic marker and interpretive panel

Historic marker

The marker titled First Spring quotes from a Pilgrim text. Probably somewhere around this place, a group of fresh-off-the-boat Pilgrims (Mayflower passengers) “saw a deere, and found springs of fresh water, of which we were heartily glad and sat us downe and drunke our first New England water.”   

The panel provides more details about the Mayflower Pilgrims and their need for water and food:

After 66 days traveling across the stormy North Atlantic, Mayflower passengers finally spotted land—the sand cliffs of Cape Cod—on the morning of November 9, 1620. Once the Mayflower was safely anchored in the natural harbor near present-day Provincetown, the Pilgrims now faced the task of establishing a permanent settlement in an unknown land.

In great need of fresh water, food, and firewood, they set out on three “discovery” expeditions over the course of several weeks. 

 Near this location Myles Standish and his expedition of 16 men had their first taste of  fresh New England water. It was as pleasant to them, William Bradford reported, “as wine or beer.” While it's unclear if this is the exact location of that first drink in 1620, this natural spring closely matches the setting and descriptions left by the Pilgrims during initial explorations of their new world. 

The Pilgrims also found and ate food that Native People had stored. On the third expedition, they had their first interaction with the Native People, which ended with an exchange of arrows and gunfire. Unease over the encounter and the inhospitable environment of Cape Cod led the Pilgrims to sail onward to Plymouth, where they settled.

Getting there

Exit Route 6 at Pilgrim Heights and drive to the end of Pilgrim Heights Road to find parking near the interpretive shelter.

Map of Pilgrim Heights area

The straight red line in the lower left corner of the map is Route 6. The green line is the Head of the Meadow Bicycle Trail. The area above the bike trail line is called Salt Meadow.