Eastham Vacation Rentals and Places to Visit

Eastham is a town with natural beauty, natural salt mashes, wooded forests, ponds, lakes, walking trails, bike paths, and sandy beaches. On the East side it borders the Atlantic Ocean and Westerly sits on Cape Cod Bay. Once known for it’s whaling, today for it’s sandy beaches, heritage, and conservation.

With its early American History, there’s plenty of history. One of the first meetings between the Pilgrims and Indians took place in Eastham. Originally called Nauset, renamed to Eastham in the 1650’s.

Things to do
The marshes provide some of the best kayaking and canoeing on Cape Cod.

Biking
There are two bike paths sounded by forests, lakes, salt marshes, sandy beaches, and bogs. Crossing the entire Eastham the Cape Cod Rail Trail starts in Dennis and ends in Wellfleet. Nauset Bike Trail starts at the visitor center and ends at Coast Guard Beach.

Hiking trails

• Nauset Marsh Trail is a ½ mile that touches Salt Pond, Nauset Marsh, and going through forest. Bring your binoculars because there’s lots of bird watching.
• Red Maple Swamp Trail a wooded trail with lots of Maples is a very colorful trail in the fall.
• Lady Slipper Trail in Wiley Conservation is a walking trail that crosses Great Pond and Bridge Pond.
• Fort Hill Trail one-half mile trail with great views of Nauset Marsh, Nauset Spit, and the Atlantic Ocean. Great for bird viewing.
• South Eastham Conservation with small ponds, wooded forest
• Nickerson Property walking trails on Bridge Pond, Great Pond and Widow Harding Pond. In the late spring watch herring making their way to Great Pond and Bridge Pond.
• Cottontail hiking trails with wildflowers on Herring and Jemina Ponds.
• Cedar Banks Trail one-half mile path to Nauset Beach and Coast Guard Beach.
• Buttonbush trail is a short path for the blind with interpretive text panels and Braille.
• Massachusetts Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary with walking trails and a boardwalk out to Cape Cod Bay.

Fishing
Depot Pond – bass & pickerel
Great Pond – bass & pickerel
Minister Pond – bass & pickerel
Herring Pond – stocked trout, bass, pickerel & white perch

Places to visit

• Schoolhouse Museum one-room schoolhouse built in 1869. Exhibits depict the area’s history
• Swift-Daley House built in 1700’s by Joshua Knowles. See how early houses were built.
• Captain Penniman House built a whaling captain
• Pond Visitor Center Theater, four short films on local history
• Nauset Light is a working lighthouse that was moved from Chatham to Eastham in the 1800’s to replace the Three Sisters Lighthouses, because of erosion it was moved more inland in 1996.
• Old Eastham Windmill was moived from Plymouth to Eastham and is the oldest working windmill on Cape Cod. Still used to grind corn.

Visit other Cape Cod towns

Vacation rental places to stay