Cape Cod Activities:

Apart from its quiet and serene air, the Cape also has many interesting activities for visitors to experience. Here are a few that we have found to be interesting. For a more thorough listing of Cape Cod and Chatham activities, make sure you stop by the Visitors Center on Main Street in Chatham Center. 

Amusement Parks and Playgrounds
Antiquing and Craft Shows
Band Concert
Baseball
Beaches
Biking and Hiking
Fishing
Kayaking and Canoeing
Movies and Theatre
Museums
Natural Wildlife - Bird Watching; Seal Watching; Whale Watching
Recreational Sports
Scenic Landmarks

Amusement Parks and Playgrounds

Play-A-Round Playground
The residents of Chatham built this magnificent playground - one of the largest in the northeast. It’s a multi-level, wooden structure that includes a handicap area and a fenced tot area. The playground is located adjacent to Veterans Field on Depot Road.

Mini Golf and Amusement Parks

  • Bud's Go-Karts 
    362 Sisson Rd., Harwich (508) 432-4964 
    Unique to the Lower Cape, this long-established go-cart center, is easy to find on the corner of Route 28 and Sisson Road. It rings all summer with the delighted shrieks and shouts of children going FAST! and loving it. You can get on the course for $5. In the summer, it's open daily with evening hours.

  • Grand Slam Entertainment
    322 Rt. 28, Harwich  (508) 430-1155 
    Batting cages -- including one with fastballs as fast as 90 miles per hour! -- are ready and waiting for your little sluggers. There are also bumper boats and arcade games. A good time to ride the boats is on a hot day, when the lines will be short because everyone else will be at the beach, and the bumper rides will splash (and cool) you. It's open daily mid-April through mid-October.

  • Trampoline Center
    296 Rt. 28, Harwich (508) 432-8717 
    Kids will have a great time jumping to their hearts' content. A dozen large trampolines in a fenced-in outdoor area are set at ground level, so even the smallest of small fry can fly high. Remember to follow the two rules: no shoes and no flips. The center is open daily from mid-June through Labor Day. The cost is $3 for 10 minutes.

  • Cape Escape 
    14 Canal Rd., Orleans (508) 240-1791 
    Right near the Orleans Rotary, this fun little minigolf center features 18 holes set in nautical surroundings, complete with waterfalls, ponds, boats and a water wheel. It's also right next door to two very child-friendly restaurants. It's open daily April through Columbus Day. The cost is $6 for adults and $5 for children.

  • Gift Barn 
    Rt. 6, Eastham (508) 255-7000 
    Just 1 mile north of the National Seashore Visitor Center, this family-run complex offers an 18-hole minigolf course. It has an arcade with pinball, video games and redemption games -- kids love them, because they get to pick out their own prizes. It's open daily June through September, but there's also a great gift shop with lots of stuff for kids that's open springtime until Christmas Eve. Minigolf costs $3 per person, $1.50 for replays.

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Antiquing and Craft Shows

Details Coming Soon

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Band Concerts

Every Friday evening at 8:00 pm from July 3 to September 4 Chatham hosts a fantastic band concert in Kate Gould Park on Main Street in Chatham. As many as six thousand people attend these concerts, and it will be one of the highlights of your summer in Chatham. There will be musical numbers by the band, folk dances for the children, dance numbers for grown-ups and community singing for everyone. Members of the colorfully uniformed forty-piece band live in Chatham and the surrounding towns. Do not miss these concerts. They’re great fun!

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Cape Cod League Baseball

Veterans Field in Chatham is the home park of the Chatham Athletics, one of 10 teams in the widely known Cape Cod Baseball League. This league is an NCAA sanctioned summer league, first organized in 1885 and features teams from each community throughout the Cape. The League season opens in mid-June and concludes in mid-August with playoffs pitting the two top teams in each division. The games are free to spectators and the teams are very competitive. 


Visit the Chatham A's website (http://www.chathamas.com)

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Beaches

Of course the Cape and Chatham are renowned for their spectacular beaches. Pleasant Street Beach is just a short walk from the house. Other Nantucket Sound beaches in the area include Red River Beach and Hardings Beach. 

One of the great advantages of Chatham's location is its access not only to Nantucket Sound beaches but also to the Atlantic Ocean side beaches. Lighthouse Beach, also referred to as South Beach, located at the Chatham Coast Guard Station Lighthouse extends southerly toward Monomoy Island. Another beautiful Atlantic side beach, extending northerly from Pleasant Bay is Nauset Beach, which is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The National Seashore forms a chain of barrier beaches which protect the Outer Cape environment from lashing Atlantic Ocean waves. 

Also most charming and beautiful are the beaches of Cape Cod Bay in Brewster and Dennis. These include Corporation Beach, Cold Storage Beach and Mayflower Beach.    

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Biking and Hiking

Biking and hiking are the chosen mode of transport on the Cape. It's a great bit of exercise and the best way to see the scenic attractions of Cape Cod. 

The "Cape Cod Rail Trail" follows the path of the old railway lines on Cape Cod from Wellfleet to Dennis. This wide, paved, nearly level route winds through woods, salt marshes and fields. Only walkers, bikers and rollerbladers allowed. You can get on and off for short outings of just a mile or so, or try to cover the whole 24.5 miles! It does cross roads in places and so caution at these crosswalks is required. 

The Cape Cod National Seashore also has some great bicycle trails.  The Nauset Trail is 1.6 miles of woods and salt marsh from the Visitor Center to the Lighthouse in Eastham. The Provincetown Lands Trail, from Race Point to Herring Cove transverses spectacular dunes and crosses saltwater ponds and lakes.

Nickerson State Park in Brewster also has paths  and bike routes around ponds and through the pine tree woods. 

Bike rentals  and shops in Chatham include:

  • Bert & Carol's Lawnmower & Bicycle Shop - 347 Orleans Road, N. Chatham, 945-0137
  • Bike's & Blades Inc. - 195 Crowell Road, 945-7600
  • Monomoy Sail & Cycle - 275 Orleans Raod, North Chatham, 945-0811

Chatham, itself, has several conservation trail ideal for short hiking excursions. These include:

  • Frost Fish Creek Trail

  • Barclay Ponds Trail

  • Honeysuckle Land, off Stage Harbor Road

  • George Ryder Road, South Trail 

For more information on these Chatham trails including more specific location details, visit the Chatham Chamber of Commerce website.  

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Fishing

If fishing is your passion Chatham is the perfect place for it. The Cape has many miles of saltwater shoreline: beaches, estuaries, bays and coves. Chatham is located right in the middle of it all with incredible surf fishing, great fly fishing in the flats and by boat the possibilities are endless. Some of the species caught in Chatham include: Stripped Bass, Blue Fish, Fluke, Sea Bass, Shark, Bonito, false Albacore, Mackerel, Scup and Tautog.

Here are some of my favorite spots for Blues and Stripers:

  • The flats in and around Stage Harbor and Hardings beach are excellent for light tackle or fly-fishing.
  • Surf Fishing can be great at the Chatham Light house to the right of the public beach.
  • If you want to venture off road (permit required) Nauset Beach offers really good surf fishing usually best at night.
  • You can get a shuttle to Monomoy Island, which offers flats and surf fishing.
  • By boat the rips off Monomoy are incredible for Stripers, Blues and even small Tuna if it’s the right time of year. If you don’t have a boat check out the links below for charters.
  • Nantucket Sounds wrecks are a prime location for Fluke, Sea Bass or Tautog. If bottom fishing is your thing the party boats are usually the cheapest way to get on the water.

For more information on bait shops, charters, regulations, licenses and boat rentals check out the following sites.

If you are interested in fresh water fishing there are several ponds within minutes from the house. Cliff Pond in Nickerson State Park Brewster is great for trout and Small Mouth Bass. Long Pond in Harwich, Goose Pond and Schoolhouse Pond in Chatham are all great for Pan fishing as well as Large Mouth Bass. A fresh water fishing license is required to fish all Massachusetts ponds, so be sure to pick one up at one of the bate and tackle shops.

Chatham also offers excellent shell fishing for Oysters, Razor Clams, Sea Clams - Muscles, Quahogs, Blue Crabs and Scallops. A shell fishing permit is required in Chatham waters so be sure to contact Chatham Town Hall.

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Kayaking and Canoeing

Kayaking and Canoeing is great way to explore the scenic beaches and pristine natural wetlands of Cape Cod. There are several recreational outfitter shops which rent kayaks and canoes, as well as offer guided tours and basic instruction. For bayside excursions, try Sesuit Creek Outfitters in East Dennis. Pleasant Bay Kayak Adventures in Orleans offers guided tours and paddling instruction of Pleasant Bay in Chatham and Orleans. Goose Hummuck Outfitters also in Orleans offers daily and hourly kayak and canoe rentals for exploration of Town Cove.   

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Movies and Theatre

Monomoy Theatre
Chatham is home to a summer theatre group. The Ohio University Players, a group of undergraduate and graduate students who annually spend their summers on Cape Cod is one of the country's few remaining university-run seasonal theaters. The Monomoy Theatre presents summer productions of popular thrillers, musicals, classics, and modern drama. For more information, visit the Monomoy Theatre at 776 Main St., Chatham, or call 508-945-1589 for production detail and show times. 

Wellfleet Drive-In
The Cape contains one of the few remaining drive-in theatres in New England. The Wellfleet Drive-In Theatre located on Route 6 in Wellfleet presents nightly double features of current release pictures. Remember and experience how films used to be viewed before Cineplex's and Mega Theatres.

Harwich Cinemas
This Hoyts operated Cineplex contains six theatres. It is located on Route 137 in East Harwich and displays current release motion pictures in modern air conditioned theatres. For show information and starting times call the theatre at 508-430-1160.

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Museums

Chatham being the capital township of the Lower Cape hosts many historical and cultural attractions including some very fascinating museums. Some of these include:

  • Chatham Aviation Display 

  • Chatham’s Old Grist Mill

  • Mayo House

  • Old Atwood House Museum

  • Railroad Museum

For details on these museums including locations and hours of operation visit the Chatham Chamber of Commerce website. 

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Natural Wildlife

Bird Watching
Chatham is a mecca for bird enthusiasts. The Monomoy Wildlife Sanctuary on Monomoy Island Chatham is known to have contained every species of bird and fowl ever recorded in New England environs. The Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge is a link in the chain of migratory waterfowl refuges along the Atlantic Flyway. The refuge provides nesting, feeding and resting grounds for a known 285 species. This is one of the most famous and productive ornithological points on the Atlantic seaboard. For information on access to the island and guided tour information, visit the Chatham Chamber of Commerce website.

Seal Watching
Several years ago, gray seals started to summer off the coast of Chatham.  Seals are most often seen on the Atlantic Ocean side of Chatham cruising the surf along Nauset Beach, South Beach and Monomoy. They are often seen hauled out on the beach in the summer sun at the southern tip of South Beach and along Monomoy Island. Seal and bird watching tours can be taken leaving from Morris Island and other areas of Chatham and Orleans. The following are a few of these touring companies:

Whale Watching
The Cape also hosts many whale watching tours to Stellwagen Bank. Most leave from Providencetown. Whales most often seen include: humpback whale, minke whale and fin whale. Some commercial touring companies include: 

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Recreational Sports 

Golf
The Cape has many beautifully scenic and challenging public golf courses. In Chatham, there is a small 9 hole course, the Chatham Seaside Links. The Lower Cape also contains many full service 18 hole public courses including: Cranberry Valley Golf Course, Harwichport Golf Club (508-432-0250), both in Harwich, the Captains Golf Course (508-896-5100), in Brewster and Ocean Edge Golf Course (508-896-5911), also in Brewster. For links to other golf course sites and other gold information, visit http://www.golfcapecod.com.

Tennis
Chatham has several public courts for tennis players. There is a set of two courts in a quiet and  secluded area very close to the house on Kitty's Lane in South Chatham. There are also two public courts on Depot Road behind Chatham Center, near the Railroad Museum and Veteran's Field (Chatham A's Ball Field). There are six public court at the Chatham High School on Crowell Road.    

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Scenic Landmarks

Chatham Fish Pier
The Chatham Fish Pier, at the corner of Shore Road and Barcliff Avenue on Aunt Lydia’s Cove, is a constant source of interest to our summer visitors. The members of the fishing fleet make their run each suitable day to the fishing grounds from 3 to 100 miles off Chatham. Their catch consists of haddock, cod, flounder, lobster, pollock, dogfish and halibut. The boats start returning to the pier shortly after noon, depending upon the tide. 

Fisherman’s Monument
Also at the Chatham Fish Pier is the Fisherman's Monument, a memorial in tribute to those who dedicated and continue to dedicate their lives to the Chatham fishing industry. Dedicated in June 1992, the monument is entitled “The Provider,” and features a strong hand pulling a fishing net from the sea with multi-fish and shellfish indigenous to Chatham caught in the net.

Chatham Lighthouse
At the Chatham Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station, you will find an observation posts for one of the most spectacular natural ocean views on the  East Coast of North America. Drive down Main Street past Chatham Center. Then take a right on Shore Road, to the lighthouse. You will see many cars from nearly every state as you gaze over the majestic Atlantic. It is one of the greatest viewing points to examine  and marvel barrier beach dynamics as ocean tides and currents shift and close inlets and create new land masses.  

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