Explore Hatches Harbor and Race Point

Hatches Harbor & Race Point Lighthouse trail is not super long or difficult.  Pretty straight forward, at least up to Hatches Harbor.

There is a small parking lot that fits about six cars off Province Lands Rd.  I think we had a good amount of rain leading up to that day and the trail reflected that.  There were several large icy puddles early on along the trail.  Easy to maneuver around, but just had to walk along the edge of the puddle or on a small side trail (so guessing the water is there often).

Race Point Lighthouse is out on the tip of the Cape in Provincetown.  The tip is not the northern most part, that is actually Race Point Beach.  Race Point Lighthouse is a bit more south and west, as the land curves around.  Hatches Harbor is a harbor where the land breaks from the beach around the north-west side and heads down south.  After the Hatches Harbor break in the beach you hit Herring Cove Beach.

Head down the trail towards Herring Cove Beach and the land will start to open up.  In the far distance to the left is the lighthouse.  It doesn't seem that far off, but it's also not close.  The trail continues down along the east side of Hatches Harbor until we hit some dunes.  The views were lovely.  Tides may affect where you can walk.

There are primarily two ways you can go to get to the lighthouse/ocean/Cape Cod Bay, but options at this point are abundant depending on where you want to go.  At this point you are walking on soft sand the entire time, which can be challenging to walk on.  There are many directions to explore around the dunes out there.  These aren’t huge dunes with bluffs like elsewhere on Cape Cod.

An alternative route, at least at low tide, goes around the inner dunes, instead of over the dunes, and follows the edge of the dune as it meets, what I assume is part of the harbor bed. This is faster and easier, but going to the beach or lighthouse is still through soft sand.

Race Point Lighthouse or the beach. It is cool and the view of Hatches Harbor to Cape Cod Bay is wonderful.  In the colder months, be prepared for the wind to be flowing and chilly.  

We were the only people out there when we arrived. On our walk back out to the parking area we passed several groups and the parking lot was full when we got back.  This is the most popular trail I have encountered so far on Cape Cod, but it was also Presidents’ Day Weekend.  I imagine this trail will be busy in-season.