Cape Cod Shining Sea Bikeway
Shining Sea Bike Path in Falmouth
On July 2, the newest section of the Shining Sea Bikeway will officially open with a dedication ceremony, but already hundreds of people are riding, running and walking it each day. This new stretch of pavement is less than eight miles long but the existing bike path nearly 11 miles, from County Road in North Falmouth to the Steamship Authority parking lot in Woods Hole.
Built along the right-of-way for the Old Colony rail line into Woods Hole, the new bike path passes through cranberry bogs and the Sippewissett Marsh, and offers views of Chapaquoit Beach. Along the way it’s easy to spot an osprey feeding on fish, gulls dropping shellfish onto the pavement or rabbits hopping through newly planted grass. Some property owners along the trail have put out water bowls for dogs and one homeowner set up a “shaved ice” stand to lure a captive and thirsty audience.
The Shining Sea Bikeway is named for Katharine Lee Bates, the Falmouth woman who wrote the poem that became the song “America the Beautiful.”
The bike path runs along a prehistoric Wampanoag Indian trail.
From 1872 to 1957 it was used by the Penn Central Railroad for train service to Woods Hole.
In 1975, the town purchased 3.3 miles of the right-of way for $329,000 and one year later, the path was officially opened to bikes.
The new 7.4-mile stretch from Falmouth center to North Falmouth was paid for through a $300,000 town debt exclusion for design work, $3.2 million in federal funds for construction and $21,700 from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation for informational kiosks and brochures.
[Source: Shining Sea Bikeway pamphlet and committee.]