LocationsMassachusetts
Eastham, Massachusetts
Cape Cod National Seashore — Fort Hill
A whaling captain's yellow house on a hill above an enormous salt marsh, and a boulder people sharpened their tools on long before the town existed. A one-mile loop takes in both.
Researched from this park's own sources. Nobody's walked it yet.
Read this bit out
Long before anyone built a road here, people sat on one big rock and sharpened their tools against it. That rock is still up on the hill with the grooves worn into it. The yellow house was built in 1868 by a captain who sailed off hunting whales for years at a time — and he once put up a gate made out of a whale's jawbones, big enough to walk right through.
One of your three free places, or the Explorer Pass. What that costs
Before you go
- Time there
- Plan on about an hour and a half at the park.
- Parking
- Free — the Seashore charges only at its six beaches, and Fort Hill is not one of them. There are two lots, lower and upper.
- Underfoot
- A one-mile loop over the hill and out along the edge of the marsh.
26 challenges written for this place
A game deals seven to fifteen of them, so no two visits are alike.
Every game includes this one
The Yellow House
Find the bright yellow house with white trim standing up on the grassy hill.
A few of the others
The Watching Room
Find the little room built on the very top of the roof. The captain climbed up there to watch for ships.
Two Different Waters
From up here the captain could see Cape Cod Bay on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Work out which way each one is.
The Roof That Changes Its Mind
Find the roof that changes its mind halfway down — steep at the top, then suddenly flatter.
The Barn Copied The House
The barn was built twelve years after the house. Find the thing the two buildings have in common.
The Sharpening Rock
Find the big boulder with grooves worn into it. People sharpened their tools on that rock long before anybody built a road here.
How Many Greens
Find a spot where you can see the marsh, then count how many different greens are in it.
The rest are a surprise — that's the whole point.
Play this at Cape Cod National Seashore — Fort Hill
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.