Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge LbNA #2039
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | May 1, 2003 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Bourne |
| County: | Barnstable |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | donna  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | MacNus |
| Last found: | Sep 19, 2010 |
| Status: | FFFFFaaaaaFFFFaaaFaa |
| Last edited: | May 1, 2003 |
Cape Cod Canal Service Road/ Bike Path
Planted by: Tweety and Mr. Coon 10/20/02
Difficulty: Easy. Just over a mile on flat pavement
Driving directions:
From the eastern end of I – 195 take Rt 25 to the Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal. From the rotary on the cape side of the bridge:
(1) turn on the first road off the rotary Tunbridge Road ???and take the first right turn onto Veterans then turn right on Sandwich Road and look for the entrance ( on your left) to the parking lot (under the bridge) for the canalside service road/bike path
or
(2) go around the rotary to follow Rt 6A along the canal. (the first left is Sandwich Road which leads to that same parking area under the bridge) There are several small lots along here where one can park and get across the rail road tracks to the service road/bike path.
or
(3) If you want to cycle the path we would recommend continuing along Rt 6A into Sandwich to the eastern (north) end of the canal. Most of the time the wind blows from the Bourne end to the Sandwich end so riding the canal from the eastern end usually means you'll head into the wind to start and get a push from the wind back to the car. After passing under the Sagamore Bridge and through the village of Sagamore you'll come to the town line and enter Sandwich. Shortly after that take a left onto Tupper Road. There may be signs here for the new Visitor's Center and the marina. From Tupper turn left onto Freezer Road which terminates in a parking lot next to the power plant. Here there are heated rest rooms that stay open later in the year, picnic tables, and the service road/ bike path access is here. If you go around to the other side of the boat basin there are several restaurants, a new visitor center (closed for the winter), and dirt canalside path which continues a little ways yet to the end of the canal. Also there are some other letterboxes near this end of the canal.
Directions to the box:
From the parking lot under the Bourne Bridge turn left onto the service road/bike path (west) and after about a mile you should approach the Aptuxet Trading Post. Across the canal will be a large water tower and a bright red sign. Continue past the trading post and look for a telephone pole that has a large number 360 on it. (the pole is tied to another smaller pole on the canal side of the bike path.) Take 37 steps further along the pavement to the west. Off the side of the pavement away from the canal you should see a red cedar tree ( Juniperus virginiana ) with a 10 or 12 inch sized rock about 2 feet away from its base. Look behind the rock. If no one is too close by the scattered shrubs here seem to be enough cover for the activity. If the numbers are off the tree you can find the spot by moving along the pavement until the red sign and the water tower are aligned (actually when you are in the right spot they will be screened by shrub) Turn about face and you will be looking at the red cedar near the box.
Background :
The current railroad bridge was built in the 1930's to replace the original drawbridge. The lift bridge raises up to rest 135 feet above the water's surface, the same as the highway bridges. In summer the bridge is raised several times a day to accommodate passage of the tourist trains.
The Aptuxet Trading Post building is a reproduction erected on a foundation excavated at an archeological site in the 1920's. The original trading post here was established by the Plimoth Plantation pilgrims. The canal wasn't here of course but the Manomet River was and it gave access to Buzzards Bay and trade by ship with the Dutch at New Amsterdam on Manhatten. The pilgrims carried material back and forth between here and Plymouth via small boats continuing up the Manumet River, across a short portage to the Scusset River which flowed in the other direction out to Cape Cod Bay. They also traded with the Native Americans whose nearest camp was near Herring Run. It is said that this is where the first use of wampum, polished bits of quahog shells, as a medium of exchange took place. There is a museum, run by the Bourne Historical Society, here open from May to mid-October. They have a shady picnic area with a view of the canal.
Planted by: Tweety and Mr. Coon 10/20/02
Difficulty: Easy. Just over a mile on flat pavement
Driving directions:
From the eastern end of I – 195 take Rt 25 to the Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal. From the rotary on the cape side of the bridge:
(1) turn on the first road off the rotary Tunbridge Road ???and take the first right turn onto Veterans then turn right on Sandwich Road and look for the entrance ( on your left) to the parking lot (under the bridge) for the canalside service road/bike path
or
(2) go around the rotary to follow Rt 6A along the canal. (the first left is Sandwich Road which leads to that same parking area under the bridge) There are several small lots along here where one can park and get across the rail road tracks to the service road/bike path.
or
(3) If you want to cycle the path we would recommend continuing along Rt 6A into Sandwich to the eastern (north) end of the canal. Most of the time the wind blows from the Bourne end to the Sandwich end so riding the canal from the eastern end usually means you'll head into the wind to start and get a push from the wind back to the car. After passing under the Sagamore Bridge and through the village of Sagamore you'll come to the town line and enter Sandwich. Shortly after that take a left onto Tupper Road. There may be signs here for the new Visitor's Center and the marina. From Tupper turn left onto Freezer Road which terminates in a parking lot next to the power plant. Here there are heated rest rooms that stay open later in the year, picnic tables, and the service road/ bike path access is here. If you go around to the other side of the boat basin there are several restaurants, a new visitor center (closed for the winter), and dirt canalside path which continues a little ways yet to the end of the canal. Also there are some other letterboxes near this end of the canal.
Directions to the box:
From the parking lot under the Bourne Bridge turn left onto the service road/bike path (west) and after about a mile you should approach the Aptuxet Trading Post. Across the canal will be a large water tower and a bright red sign. Continue past the trading post and look for a telephone pole that has a large number 360 on it. (the pole is tied to another smaller pole on the canal side of the bike path.) Take 37 steps further along the pavement to the west. Off the side of the pavement away from the canal you should see a red cedar tree ( Juniperus virginiana ) with a 10 or 12 inch sized rock about 2 feet away from its base. Look behind the rock. If no one is too close by the scattered shrubs here seem to be enough cover for the activity. If the numbers are off the tree you can find the spot by moving along the pavement until the red sign and the water tower are aligned (actually when you are in the right spot they will be screened by shrub) Turn about face and you will be looking at the red cedar near the box.
Background :
The current railroad bridge was built in the 1930's to replace the original drawbridge. The lift bridge raises up to rest 135 feet above the water's surface, the same as the highway bridges. In summer the bridge is raised several times a day to accommodate passage of the tourist trains.
The Aptuxet Trading Post building is a reproduction erected on a foundation excavated at an archeological site in the 1920's. The original trading post here was established by the Plimoth Plantation pilgrims. The canal wasn't here of course but the Manomet River was and it gave access to Buzzards Bay and trade by ship with the Dutch at New Amsterdam on Manhatten. The pilgrims carried material back and forth between here and Plymouth via small boats continuing up the Manumet River, across a short portage to the Scusset River which flowed in the other direction out to Cape Cod Bay. They also traded with the Native Americans whose nearest camp was near Herring Run. It is said that this is where the first use of wampum, polished bits of quahog shells, as a medium of exchange took place. There is a museum, run by the Bourne Historical Society, here open from May to mid-October. They have a shady picnic area with a view of the canal.