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| Approaching Race Point in Provincetown |
Imagine peering out
from a single vantage point and being able to see the entire coast of Massachusetts
Bay! You’ve observed our state’s coastline on maps. Those same contours are
visible to the naked eye from the foot of Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. I would
guess that the view from the top of the 252-foot tower is even more impressive!
I was in P-town for
work recently, and was fortunate to have some time to explore. I’ve always
loved the drive out Route 6 to the very end of Cape Cod – the shallow lake on
one side, the cottages on the other, the gigantic rolling dunes that stand in
stark contrast to the water and the sky. The eastern-most tip of the state is
home to the Cape Cod National Seashore, with its many outposts. Spanning sections
of Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown, this National
Park is comprised of 44,600 acres. Much of it is sandy beach and dunes, but there
are also forests, ponds, swamps and marshes, and plenty of well-marked trails.
I was in the mood
for a walk, so I made my way to the Province Lands and Race Point, which are
clustered together in the northern part of P-town. It’s an appealing destination
for walking, jogging, or biking -- a 5.45 mile paved loop trail traverses ponds,
wooded areas and dunes, connecting the Province Lands Visitor Center and the
area known as Beech Forest. In addition, there are shorter spur trails to
Herring Cove Beach and to Race Point. There are large parking areas at all four
stops, each free of charge except for Herring Cove (where in season, there is a
fee).
As I was traveling
on foot, I didn’t have time to see it all before sunset. Wishing I’d brought my
bike, I settled for a 3-mile, out-and-back route from the Province Lands to
Race Point, along with a plan to return the next day to walk a different
section.
What I wanted to see
most was the Province Lands dunes, which vary in height from 30 to over 100
feet. There are two types of sand dunes in the National Seashore. Linear dunes --
or foredunes – form just behind the beach, and serve as barriers to protect the
more fragile ecosystems behind them from the force of the ocean and its winds.
Parabolic dunes sit farther inland, and are much more extensive. Hollowed out
by the wind, they create a succession of horseshoe shapes – waves of sand, some
bare, some vegetated.
I was drawn to the
dunes because I am intrigued by their variability. They are constantly in flux.
While many of the sand dunes in the Province Lands are now relatively stable,
some move as much as ten feet per year.
In his book Cape Cod, Thoreau likened the Cape to an
upraised arm, bent at the elbow, with Provincetown as its fist. The formation
of lands that comprise P-town is relatively recent in geologic terms. They
developed about 5,000 years ago, as wind and currents along the shore moved
sand and gravel northward. While the outer beach “arm” was reduced to nearly
half its width, the area inside the “fist” grew and even developed
“fingers.”
It’s hard to
imagine, but accounts from the Pilgrims indicate that 97% of the land at
Provincetown was once covered by dense vegetation and mature forest. So even
though the coastal sands were shifting at a relatively rapid pace, they were
anchored at center by trees and shrubs. However by the time Thoreau completed
his long walk to the tip of Cape Cod (1850), P-town was almost barren. Thoreau
likened it to a desert.
Why the change? When
European settlers arrived in the 1600s, they used a lot of wood – for homes and
other buildings, plus fences, watercraft, carts. They used wood for fuel as
well, and grazed their livestock on grasses and other low-lying vegetation.
They removed trees, shrubs and grasses at a furious pace -- faster than they
could regenerate, and thus in time, P-town was laid bare. With nothing left to
anchor it, the sand blew everywhere, threatening at times to bury the town.
Eventually the
settlers saw the benefits of limiting the removal of vegetation, and also learned
that planting grass and shrubs would help to curb erosion. Such conservation
efforts have been in practice now for well over 100 years, so quite a bit of
the area is now stabilized. The National Park Service continues to plant beach
grass, and promote the long-term growth of hardy bushes and trees.
I find this sort of
history fascinating. It’s a common-enough story. People arrive at a place, mark
their mark on it, and eventually do some damage. If the damage is extensive
enough that it impacts their world to a negative degree, they may see fit to
find a solution. Better still, a way to undo the damage. If they’re smart and
forward-thinking, they even take measures to prevent or at least delay further
damage.
A visit to the
Province Lands and Race Point is well worth the trip to the outer reaches of
the Cape. You can learn more by visiting the National Parks website for the
Cape Cod National Seashore at https://www.nps.gov/caco/index.htm
Note to cyclists: Because of the terrain – steep hills, sharp
curves, low tunnels and the likelihood of sand, water, or other hazards on the
trail, the speed limit in this section of the National Seashore is 10mph.
That’s plenty fast for sightseers and for families with young children, but
probably not a good fit for a cyclist in search of a workout.
by Kezia Bacon
September 2016
Kezia Bacon's articles
appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local
non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance
and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For
membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at
(781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 20 years of Nature (Human and
Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com
