Cape Cod is a 65-mile-long peninsula/island linked to the mainland by two bridges, the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge, which span the Cape Cod Canal. Surrounded by water of all four sides, Cape Cod has miles of magnificent coastal scenery and pristine beaches, along with more than 365 freshwater lakes and kettle ponds.

Our travel maps are designed to facilitate your exploration of this beautiful corner of the world.

The peninsula map is divided into four sections: the Upper Cape, the Mid-Cape, the Lower Cape and the Outer Cape. Details show the major roadways that may traverse the peninsula. The Mid-Cape Highway, which extends from the Sagamore Bridge to our peninsula’s end at Provincetown, is our major high-speed roadway.

Detailed maps of each section of the Cape are provided, along with maps of each town or village within each geographic section.

Separate maps of Beaches and Golf Courses are also provided.

Area Maps

Cape Cod forms a continuity with a line of islands stretching toward New York, historically known by naturalists as the Outer Lands.

Cape Cod consists of four portions: The Upper Cape is the section of Cape Cod closest to the mainland. This portion of the Cape includes the towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich. While part of the town of Barnstable is located on the Upper Cape, it is more commonly considered to be in the Mid-Cape area. Falmouth is the home of the famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and several other research organizations, and is also the most-used ferry connection to Martha's Vineyard. Falmouth is composed of several villages, including Woods Hole, Quissett, West Falmouth, North Falmouth, Hatchville, East Falmouth, Teaticket, and Waquoit.

The Mid-Cape includes the towns of Barnstable, Dennis and Yarmouth. There are seven villages in Barnstable: Barnstable, Centerville, Cotuit, Hyannis, Marstons Mills, Osterville, and West Barnstable. The Mid-Cape area features many beautiful beaches, including warm-water beaches along Nantucket Sound, e.g. Kalmus Beach in Hyannis, which gets its name from one of the inventors of Technicolor, Herbert Kalmus. This popular windsurfing destination was bequeathed to the town of Barnstable by Dr. Kalmus on condition that it not be developed, possibly one of the first instances of open-space preservation in the US. There are three villages in Yarmouth: South Yarmouth, West Yarmouth and Yarmouthport.

The Lower Cape is the narrower portion of the cape, where it bends sharply to the north. This section includes the towns of Brewster, Chatham, Harwich, and Orleans.

The Outer Cape is the outermost part, containing the towns of Eastham, Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet. This area is home to some of the most popular beaches in America, namely Coast Guard and Nauset Light beaches in Eastham.

The large area of water enclosed by Cape Cod and the mainland seacoast to the north is Cape Cod Bay; west of Cape Cod is Buzzards Bay. To the south lie Nantucket sound; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard (both large islands); and the mostly privately owned Elizabeth Islands in the town of Gosnold, of which the most populated is Cuttyhunk.

Cape Cod is connected to the mainland by a pair of canal-spanning highway bridges from Bourne and Sagamore that were constructed in the 1930s, and a vertical-lift railroad bridge. The entire Cape is roughly bisected lengthwise by U.S. Route 6, locally known as the Mid-Cape Highway. Commercial air service to Cape Cod operates out of Barnstable Municipal Airport and Provincetown Municipal Airport. There is also a ferry connection from Boston to Provincetown.

Most of Cape Cod's geological history involves the advance and retreat of the last continental ice sheet in the late Pleistocene geological era and the subsequent changes in sea level. Using radiocarbon dating techniques, researchers have determined that around 23,000 years ago, the ice sheet reached its maximum southward advance over North America, and then started to retreat. By about 18,000 years ago, the ice sheet had retreated past Cape Cod. By roughly 15,000 years ago, it had retreated past southern New England.

When so much of Earth's water was locked up in massive ice sheets, the sea level was lower. As the ice began to melt, the sea began to rise. Initially, sea level rose quickly, about 15 meters (50 feet) per 1,000 years, but then the rate declined. On Cape Cod, sea level rose roughly 3 meters (11 feet) per millennium between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. After that, it continued to rise at about 1 meter (3 feet) per millennium. By 6,000 years ago, the sea level was high enough to start eroding the glacial deposits that the vanished continental ice sheet had left on Cape Cod. The water then carried the eroded deposits along the shoreline. Those reworked sediments found a new home on the tip of Cape Cod. Provincetown Spit, at the northern end of the cape, consists largely of marine deposits, transported from farther up the shore. So while other parts of the Cape have dwindled from the action of the waves, this part of the Cape has grown. Also, many "kettle ponds" - clear, cold lakes - were formed on Cape Cod as a result of the receding glacier.

Climate

Cape Cod experiences a continental climate that is very common in New England, which is variable and changes rapidly. Although the weather is typically more moderate than inland locations, there have been occasions where Cape Cod has dealt with the brunt of extreme weather situations (such as the Blizzard of 2005 and Hurricane Bob). Because of the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures are typically a few degrees cooler in the summer and a few degrees warmer in the winter. A common misconception is the climate is influenced largely by the warm Gulf Stream current, however that current turns eastward off the coast of Virginia and the waters off the Cape are more influenced by the cold Canadian Labrador Current. The Cape's climate is also notorious for a delayed spring season, being surrounded by an ocean which is still cold from the winter, however, it is also known for an exceptionally mild fall season (Indian Summer), thanks to the ocean remaining warm from the summer.

Precipitation on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket is the lowest in New England region , averaging slightly less than 40 inches a year (most parts of New England average 42-46 inches). This is due to storm systems which move across western areas, building up in mountainous regions, and dissipating before reaching the coast where the land has leveled out. The region does not experience a greater number of sunny days however, as the number of cloudy days is the same as inland locales, in addition to increased fog.

Beach Map

Golf Map

DRIVING TIMES

As you plan your travel itinerary, be sure to consult our Estimated Driving Time, mindful of the fact that summer traffic may add yet more minutes between destinations. We don’t want you to miss a thing!