The Cape Cod Canal railroad bridge offers a large 

free parking lot

Cape Cod Canal, Scusset Beach

     The sun comes up on the east side of the Cape Cod Canal at about four in the morning in early July. This can make interesting photos of the fishermen who wade into the shallow edges of the canal to cast bait and lures into the incoming tide at sunrise for stripers and bluefish.

If you leave Shawme-Crowell campground well before sunrise and drive across the Sagamore Bridge and turn right at the bottom of the bridge for Scusset Beach Reservation, you can photograph the sunrise from Scusset Beach or from the Cape Cod Canal bike trail.

Fishermen at dawn on the Cape Cod Canal fish for 

striper and blue

     Scusset is a large State-run campground and beach area on the north side of the canal at the eastern end. Parking for fishermen and day visitors in a large gravel lot at the end on the canal has been free in the past before 8:00 am.  Along with great fishing, this place offers good biking on the canal's north side and good hiking to several trails including the trail to Sagamore Hill where the Native Americans had a meeting grounds and where you have a great view of Cape Cod Bay.

View from the Bourne Bridge

 


     Rising early will give great morning light; you can't beat the morning sun as it rises out of the Atlantic Ocean to the east of the Cape Cod Canal.

      From the parking lot at Scusset Beach or from the small lot beneath the Sagamore Bridge, you can hike or bike along the canal. Each side of the Cape Cod Canal offers paved trails that go the length of the canal, seven miles approximately on each side. Two highway bridges cross the canal and each offers a narrow walkway on one side that connects the trails. It is possible to bike for over 14 miles off-road on these trails.

     When crossing the canal on the bridges you should walk your bike over the bridges for safety. The lane is narrow and the traffic very close.  From the tops of the bridge decks you have great views of the canal.

     On the trail along the north side of the canal there is a small museum in Bournedale, about half way between Scusset Beach and the railroad bridge at the western end of the canal.  There is a large free parking lot at this Canal museum.  Nearby, the Herring River (Manomet River) Fishway runs down from Great Herring Pond in Plymouth and over a fish ladder and into the canal. Herring make the journey from ocean to the fresh water ponds between April and June. If you are biking the length of the canal from Scusset or from the railroad bridge at the west end, this can be a good rest stop where you will find drinking water and bathrooms.

Cape Cod Canal railroad bridge west end

of the canal

     Further west along the canal you will pass under the Bourne Bridge and then reach the elevating center span, Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge.  There is a large parking lot at this bridge and nearby, find the train station for sightseeing train tickets and the small town of Buzzards Bay for restaurants.

     A return bike ride from here to Scusset Beach would be a seven mile ride for a total of 14 miles of bike ride on the north side of the canal.


Cape Cod Map