Editing Cape Cod National Seashore

{{short description|Protected area on Cape Cod, Massachusetts}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Cape Cod National Seashore
| iucn_category = V
| logo = Cape Cod National Seashore logo.png
| logo_alt = A circular logo depicting a sand dune topped with beach grass next to the ocean, with a white sea bird flying overhead.
| logo_caption = Official logo
| logo_width = 200
| photo = Beach (6310524588).jpg
| photo_caption = Beach at Cape Cod
| map_image = Cape Cod National Seashore.png
| map_caption =
| location = [[Barnstable County, Massachusetts]], [[United States|USA]]
| nearest_city = [[Barnstable, Massachusetts]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|41|50|14|N|69|58|22|W|region:US|display=inline, title}}
| area_acre = 43607.14
| area_ref = <ref name="area">{{NPS area |year=2014 |accessdate=2015-08-26}}</ref>
| visitation_num = 3,968,672
| visitation_year = 2022
| visitation_ref = <ref name="visits">{{NPS visitation|accessdate=2023-07-23}}</ref>
| established = August 7, 1961
| governing_body = [[National Park Service]]
| website = [https://www.nps.gov/caco/ Cape Cod National Seashore]
}}
[[File:Cape Cod National Seashore ca. 1966.PNG|thumb|A photo of the Cape Cod National Seashore taken for the [[National Park Service]]'s Mission 66 initiative, ca.&nbsp;1966.]]
The '''Cape Cod National Seashore''' ('''CCNS''') encompasses {{convert|43,607|acres|sqmi km2|1}}<ref name="area" /> on [[Cape Cod]], in [[Massachusetts]]. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by [[President of the United States|President]] [[John F. Kennedy]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHP-1961-08-07-A.aspx |title=Bill signing - S. 857 Public Law 87-126, Cape Cod National Seashore Act, 11:47AM |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-75/pdf/STATUTE-75-Pg284.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-75/pdf/STATUTE-75-Pg284.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Cape Cod National Seashore Act - P.L. 87-126 |work=75 Stat. 284 ~ Senate Bill 857 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref> when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years prior.<ref>Kennedy, John F. (1961). ''Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States.'' Office of the Federal Register National Archives and Records Service. pp. 551-552.</ref> It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the [[Atlantic coastal pine barrens]] [[ecoregion]].  The CCNS includes nearly {{convert|40|mi|km}} of seashore along the Atlantic-facing eastern shore of Cape Cod, in the towns of [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]], [[Truro, Massachusetts|Truro]], [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts|Wellfleet]], [[Eastham, Massachusetts|Eastham]], [[Orleans, Massachusetts|Orleans]] and [[Chatham, Massachusetts|Chatham]]. It is administered by the [[National Park Service]].

==Places of interest==

Notable sites encompassed by the CCNS include [[Marconi Station#Cape Cod, Massachusetts|Marconi Station]] (site of the first two-way transatlantic radio transmission), the Highlands Center for the Arts (formerly the [[North Truro Air Force Station]]), the [[Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars Historic District]] (a 1,950-acre historic district containing dune shacks and the dune environment), and the [[glacial erratic]] known as [[Doane Rock]].

A former [[United States Coast Guard]] station on the ocean in Truro is now operated as a 42-bed [[Hostel|youth hostel]] by [[Hostelling International]] USA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HI Truro Hostel |url=https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/massachusetts/truro-111-north-pamet-road |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=HI USA |language=en-US}}</ref>

There are several paved bike trails:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wellfleet |first=Mailing Address: 99 Marconi Site Road |last2=ranger |first2=MA 02667 Phone: 508-255-3421 To speak to a park |last3=Us |first3=call 508-255-3421 for visitor information Contact |title=Walking Trails - Cape Cod National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/guide-to-trails.htm |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>

* Nauset Bike Trail—Eastham
* Head of the Meadow Trail—Truro
* Province Lands Trails—Provincetown

There are several excellent beaches along the coastline with public facilities available seasonally. These include [[Race Point Light|Race Point Beach]] in Provincetown and [[Coast Guard Beach (Eastham, Massachusetts)|Coast Guard Beach]] in Eastham.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shortsleeve |first1=Cassie |title=The Best Beaches on Cape Cod |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/the-best-beaches-on-cape-cod |publisher=Conde Nast Traveller |access-date=21 June 2018 |date=May 22, 2018}}</ref> Both of these have made "top beaches in the US" lists over the years.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2015-05-22/best-beaches-in-the-us | title=19 Beach Vacations That Don't Require a Passport | date=22 May 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.coastalliving.com/travel/top-10/tripadvisor-best-beaches-usa#best-ocean-views-around-the-world-video |title=The 25 Best Beaches in America, According to You! - Coastal Living |access-date=2018-06-21 |archive-date=2018-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622010459/https://www.coastalliving.com/travel/top-10/tripadvisor-best-beaches-usa#best-ocean-views-around-the-world-video |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Restoration and conservation efforts==
As part of the NPS Centennial Initiative, the [[Herring River (Wellfleet, Massachusetts)|Herring River]] estuary will be restored to its natural state through removal of dikes and drains that date back to 1909.<ref>{{cite web | title = Herring River Tidal Restoration Project | publisher = National Park Service |date=July 2011 |url=http://www.nps.gov/caco/naturescience/herring-river-tidal-restoration-project.htm|access-date=2013-05-31}}</ref>

In 2010, the North of Highland Campground was protected with a conservation easement. [[The Trust for Public Land]], the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, the Truro Conservation Trust, and other groups led a grassroots campaign to support the funding for the purchase price of the conservation easement from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), secured by U.S. Senator John Kerry, U.S. Representative Bill Delahunt, and former Senator Ted Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cape Cod Campground Permanently Protected |url=https://www.tpl.org/media-room/cape-cod-campground-permanently-protected#sm.0001a54imxu3yejmyk61btjrc948n}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Truro campground owner wins $2.4M conservation easement |url=http://truro.wickedlocal.com/article/20100409/NEWS/304099071 |publisher=Wicked Local}}</ref>

The Biddle Property, home of the late [[Francis Biddle]], who was the U.S. attorney general during [[World War II]] and served as the primary American judge during the post-war Nuremberg trials, was added to the Cape Cod National Seashore in 2011. Using funding from the [[Land and Water Conservation Fund]], the [[Trust for Public Land]] purchased the property and conveyed it to the National Park Service.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biddle Property |url=https://www.tpl.org/our-work/biddle-property#sm.0001a54imxu3yejmyk61btjrc948n}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Biddle property acquisition is plum for Park |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/article/20110304/News/303049230 |publisher=Wicked Local}}</ref>

As part of the restoration efforts, a number of run-down and unsafe buildings of no historical significance will be removed from areas around CCNS and the affected lands will be restored. The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) has provided more than $8 million to oversee this project that is to begin in 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 4, 2023 |title=Cape Cod National Seashore to Receive Funding from Great American Outdoors Act for Deferred Maintenance Projects |work=States News Service}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="170px">
Image:CCNS Sign.jpg|An entrance to the Cape Cod National Seashore in [[Eastham, Massachusetts]]
Image:Ccnatsea.jpg|Cape Cod National Seashore
Image:Nauset-light-cape-cod.jpg|Nauset Light
Image:Highland-light-cape-cod.jpg|View from Highland Light
Image:Marconi-beach-cape-cod.jpg|Marconi Beach
Image:Race point sunset.jpg|Late July Sunset at Race Point Beach
Image:Salt Pond Visitor Center, Cape Cod National Seashore, Eastham MA.jpg|Salt Pond Visitor Center
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Coast Guard Beach (Eastham, Massachusetts)]]
* [[East Harbor]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape Cod National Seashore]]
* [[Nauset Light Beach]]
* [[Race Point Light]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
* [http://www.nps.gov/caco Cape Cod National Seashore]. National Park Service website.
* [https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo64720 Coastal Landforms and Processes at the Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts: A Primer] [[United States Geological Survey|U.S. Geological Survey]]
* [https://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/maps.htm National Park Service map]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080528030535/http://www.nps.gov/history/nR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/112penniman/112penniman.htm "The Penniman House: A Whaling Story"]. A National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan.
* Portnoy, J. W. et al.,  ''[https://sp.barnstablecounty.org/ccc/public/Documents/Stage%20Harbor/2001%2004%20CCNS%20Kettle%20Pond%20Data%20Atlas.pdf Kettle Pond Data Atlas for Cape Cod National Seashore: Paleoecology and Modern Water Chemistry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623170339/https://sp.barnstablecounty.org/ccc/public/Documents/Stage%20Harbor/2001%2004%20CCNS%20Kettle%20Pond%20Data%20Atlas.pdf |date=2018-06-23 }}'' April 2001, 118 pp., Retrieved June 23, 2018.

{{SeashoreLakes}}
{{Protected areas of Massachusetts}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cape Cod National Seashore| ]]
[[Category:1961 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Chatham, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Eastham, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Landforms of Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Beaches of Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Landmarks in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Massachusetts natural resources]]
[[Category:National Park Service areas in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:National seashores of the United States]]
[[Category:Orleans, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1961]]
[[Category:Provincetown, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Truro, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Wellfleet, Massachusetts]]