The Trails of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
JOHN WING TRAIL (1.3 miles) is our most popular field walk that passes through the coastal pitch pine woodlands, across a salt marsh, to Wing’s Island and finally descends through a salt marsh swale to the barrier beach and tidal pools of Cape Cod Bay. This is truly a microcosm of the Cape’s landscape. A Museum naturalist guide will point out many of the interesting ecological features and explain the natural and human development which have shaped our fragile land from geological times to the present. The tidal flats and creeks are home to a variety of fish, crabs, shellfish, worms, horseshoe crabs and snails as well as many seaside plants, grasses and trees.
THE SOUTH TRAIL (1 mile) starts across Route 6A on Museum land that meanders through the famous Stony Brook Valley. it travels through a brackish salt marsh across the Stony Brook into a unique beech forest.
Between mid-April and early-June, Stony Brook becomes a herring run, connecting these ocean-dwelling alewives with their freshwater spawning grounds. Our naturalist guides will point out major plant species in the progressively more freshwater habitat.
FIELD TRIP LOGISTICS FOR GROUPS
RESERVATIONS: reservations are required for all school and adult groups requesting field guides for the trails, please call 508.896.3867
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