Hike the Pamet Area Trail

Pamet Area Trail is in Truro, towards the ocean within the Cape Cod National Seashore.  As we were driving to the parking area it felt like it was wrong, as it often does.  There was a dead end and school signs, which are for the N.E.E.D. Academy (apparently also doubles as a hostel during the summer season). 

There are about seven or eight parking spots on N. Pamet Rd, directly across from where the trail starts, and a small parking lot just off the road. 

The trail is definitely an easy trail that is very clearly marked, one of the easiest and most well marked trails we have been on.  You are climbing up and down intermittently through much of the trail, but there is wood laid for steps throughout.

The trail takes you through wooded areas, an overlook dune area, Bearberry Hill Summits, and an old cranberry bog house.  There are options to take much more narrow trails for a longer trip.  To make the walk a loop instead of out-and-back, you can walk along N. Pamet Rd. from the bog house back to the parking lot. It is a minimally used road.

Off of the primary trail, early on in the walk, are the East and West Bearberry Hill Summits.  The east overlooks the beach, ocean, N.E.E.D. Academy.  The west overlooks what used to be the cranberry bog and beautiful wooded lands.  Continue on the main trail to where the trail splits to “Overlook” and “Bog House”.   Overlook is where the trails split to go longer and there are a few overlooks and entry points to Ballston Beach, which is huge.  The Atlantic Ocean beaches on Cape Cod are just massive, in contrast to the bay beaches.

Without the extension, the walk trail is about 1.9 miles round trip.  I think it would be about 3 miles with the extension up to the overlooks through the Truro Hills.