Eastham, Massachusetts
The Three Sisters
Photo: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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.
Written for ages 4–12.
Researched from this park's own sources. Nobody's walked it yet.
Read this bit out
These three were built to stand on the cliff, so sailors could tell this stretch of coast from the places with one lighthouse or two. But the cliff kept falling into the ocean, which is what cliffs here do. The first three towers fell in with it, and these wooden ones were built a little farther back. Then two of them were sold — for three dollars and fifty cents, the pair — and somebody joined them together with a room in the middle and lived in them. It took until 1975 to get all three back. Now they stand here in the woods, in the same order they always stood in.
One of your three free places, or the Explorer Pass. What that costs
Before you go
- Time there
- Plan on about an hour at the park.
- Parking
- 751 Cable Road, Eastham. The Nauset Light Beach lot is a short walk away, but from Memorial Day to mid-September part of it is for Eastham residents only, it fills fast, and the beach charges an entrance fee.
- Underfoot
- A short flat walk from the lot to the clearing where the towers stand.
22 challenges written for this place
A game deals seven to fifteen of them, so no two visits are alike.
4 things to spot, 3 photographs to take and 3 things to work out.
Every game includes this one
All Three Sisters
Find all three lighthouses and stand where you can see every one of them at once.
A few of the others
In The Order They Stood
These three are set out in exactly the order they stood in on the cliff. Work out which way they were facing the sea.
One Each
One photo with a different person standing at each of the three towers.
As Tall As You Can
The towers are twenty-two feet tall. Take one photo that makes somebody look as tall as one.
Their Turn
Hand the phone to the youngest. They take one picture of whatever they want.
Women In White Dresses
People called them the Three Sisters because from out at sea they looked like women in white dresses with black hats. Stand back and see if you agree.
Three Dollars Fifty
Two of these were once sold at auction for three dollars and fifty cents — the pair. Work out what you could buy for that today.
The rest are a surprise — that's the whole point.
Also around Eastham
Cape Cod National Seashore — Fort Hill
Eastham
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.
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 The Three Sisters
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.