Admission-Free, The Salt Pond Visitor Center In Massachusetts Is The Perfect Day Trip Destination
By Melissa Mahoney|Published August 06, 2021
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Melissa Mahoney
Author
I'm an east coast girl living in a west coast world. I grew up in New England before moving to SoCal for several years. I then lived in NYC or a year before moving to AZ in 2009. I worked in the entertainment industry for many years of my adult life and have a deep love for photography, writing, and traveling around the U.S. as well as to far-flung locations around the world. Travel is my life and writing about it is a dream!
Admission prices to many places can be quite costly, but once in a while, you find a gem that’s both free and amazing to visit. Located on Cape Cod in Eastham, the Salt Pond Visitor Center is a nature center and museum that offers plenty of programs and hiking trails and it’s all admission-free! If you haven’t been here yet, you should put Salt Pond Visitor Center on your Massachusetts bucket list.
Located in the town of Eastham at the corner of Nauset Road and Route 6, Salt Pond Visitor Center is an ideal stop for travelers coming to Cape Cod. Some just make a pit stop while others park their cars to bike or hike along the trails. But this visitor center also has an incredibly informative, admission-free museum that should not be overlooked.
Step inside Salt Pond Visitor Center where you can visit the museum with numerous exhibits about Cape Cod, natural history, the whaling industry, and more. Take a look at this Cape Cod topographical map, an exhibit that resides in the entrance hall.
Rangers are also available for any questions you may have and kids can pick up a Junior Ranger booklet.
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Peruse the museum to learn about the Wampanoag, the first people who lived here and their culture along with the Europeans who eventually settled on Cape Cod. There are exhibits on the natural history of the area, fishing, whaling, lighthouses, life-saving stations, communication technology, and tourism.
Outside the visitor center, you will see a hay-barge, a relic from the 1850s agricultural era of Cape Cod. This wide, flat-bottomed boat was used to navigate through the marshes for people to gather salt marsh hay for livestock.
After it was retired from agricultural use, it was then used by the French Transatlantic Cable Company as a repair boat.
The area surrounding the visitor center is breathtaking. Roam the grounds where you'll find an outdoor amphitheater that hosts free concerts and performances during the summer months. And pose for some fun photos with the large frame that overlooks beautiful Salt Pond!
There are plenty of trails you'll have access to as well. The paved Nauset Marsh Trail is 1.5 miles and leads right to Coast Guard Beach. Along the way, you'll travel through forest and along a boardwalk bridge over Nauset Marsh. The views on the way to the beach are spectacular!
Closer to the visitor center are numerous paths including one that meanders around part of Salt Marsh as well as the multi-sensory Buttonbush Trail that has guide ropes and Braille interpretive signs.
Before you leave, don't forget to visit the bookstore to commemorate your visit and to support the Cape Cod National Seashore. You'll find plenty of books on Cape Cod and nature as well as plenty of unique gifts.
Salt Pond Visitor Center is a must-visit along the Cape Cod National Seashore and its museum has free admission but donations are gladly accepted! Have you been here before? What did you see and do while you were here? Please tell your fellow readers all about your experience in the comment section. For more information on Salt Pond Visitor Center, visit the National Park Service website.
While at Salt Pond Visitor Center, visit Coast Guard Beach. You can access the beach by walking or biking along the Nauset Marsh Trail from the visitor center, by tram in the summer, or by driving to the beach’s parking lot in the off-season.
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