Eastham, Massachusetts
Cape Cod National Seashore — Fort Hill
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A whaling captain's bright yellow 1868 house, a boulder where Native people sharpened tools, and a one-mile loop over open fields above Nauset Marsh.
Written for ages 3–12.
Researched from this park's own sources. Nobody's walked it yet.
Read this bit out
Long ago, Native people came to one big boulder down by the marsh to sharpen their tools. The long, thin grooves are where they shaped fishhooks and harpoon heads. The sea crept closer, so in 1965 the rock was moved to the top of Skiff Hill, and its old spot is underwater now. The yellow house was finished in 1868 for a captain who sailed around the world hunting whales. From the little room on its roof he could watch ships on two different seas.
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. Two lots: the lower one at 70 Fort Hill Road, across from the Penniman House (turn off Route 6 at the brown Fort Hill sign onto Governor Prence Road), and an upper one overlooking the marsh.
- Underfoot
- A one-mile loop across open fields above Nauset Marsh, rated easy, with some log steps on the slopes. You cross a road once, so hold hands there.
- Stroller
- A stroller works on some of it.
- Bathrooms
- Bathrooms, but only in season.
26 challenges written for this place
A game deals seven to fifteen of them, so no two visits are alike.
7 things to spot, 5 things to work out and 3 things growing.
Every game includes this one
The Yellow House
Find the bright yellow house with the fancy roof, across the road from the parking lot.
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 on top of Skiff Hill with grooves worn into it. Native people sharpened tools and fishhooks on it.
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.
Also around Eastham
The Three Sisters
Eastham
Three little lighthouses in a clearing in the woods, set out in the order they stood on the cliff. From the sea they looked like women in white dresses.
Salt Pond & Nauset Marsh
Eastham
A kettle pond the sea broke into, a tidal marsh full of birds, and a 1.3-mile loop that comes home through a forest growing back.
Play this at Cape Cod National Seashore — Fort Hill
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.