Old King's Highway

Route 6A along the bay side of the Cape: village greens, salt marsh and old captains’ houses, and the only road on the Cape that was never widened.

Open this ride in the planner →

Why this ride

55 km from Sandwich to Orleans, about 1 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of West Barnstable, Yarmouth Port, Dennis and Brewster. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Roadbook

1. Sandwich start

   Sandwich is the oldest town on Cape Cod, founded in 1637 by settlers from the Plymouth Colony, and it has the air of a place that has been looking at the same view for a very long time. Houses with weathered grey shingles stand around a village green, a mill pond and a small, historic grist mill, and the old Dexter Grist Mill still grinds corn on certain days. The town was home to the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, founded in the 1820s, whose colourful pressed glass was once sold across America, and a museum on the main street displays the best pieces.

   The Cape Cod Canal, completed in 1914, cuts across the base of the peninsula just beyond the town, with the Sagamore and Bourne bridges arching over it. A path runs along both banks, and watching the ships go through is a good way to spend an hour. The canal turned the Cape into an island, in the technical sense, and saved ships the long and dangerous passage around the outer shore.

   The road that gives the ride its name is Route 6A, the Old King's Highway, which runs along the north shore of the Cape from Sandwich to Orleans. It is one of the loveliest roads in New England, a narrow, tree-lined lane that passes ancient houses, salt marshes, antique shops and sea captains' mansions. The speed limit is low, the bends are gentle and the surface is generally good, though the road is crowded in summer, when traffic crawls and parking is scarce. Early spring and late autumn are the quiet seasons, with fog, wind and light that is soft and silver. The Sandy Neck, a long barrier beach to the east, is a haven for birds, including piping plovers, which nest in the dunes in spring.

   Sandwich has about three thousand people, with Sagamore and East Sandwich close by, and there are fuel stations and shops on Route 6A and on the main roads. For a wider choice, the nearest bigger town is Mashpee, about twelve kilometres south. Traffic on the bridges over the canal can back up badly on summer weekends, so aim to cross before eight or after six. In the off season, many restaurants and shops shut, so check before you set out.

2. West Barnstable scenic

   West Barnstable is what Cape Cod looks like when it is not trying to be Cape Cod. It sits on the north side of the Cape, away from the beaches and the big resorts, among pitch pines, scrub oak and old cranberry bogs, and the road through it is Route 6A, the Old King's Highway. The highway follows the route that colonial travellers took from Plymouth along the bay shore, and the whole stretch is a protected historic district, with rules about the colour of paint and the size of signs that keep the roadside looking much as it did when sea captains built their houses along it.

   The village itself is quiet. A meeting house of white clapboard, dating from the early eighteenth century and among the oldest on the Cape, stands near the road, and there are antique shops, an old brick store and a handful of farm stands. The wetlands to the north are a part of the Great Marshes, a wide expanse of salt marsh and creeks running down to Cape Cod Bay, with Sandy Neck, a long barrier beach, beyond. The air smells of salt and pine, and the light, bright and slanting, is why painters have been coming to the Cape for more than a century.

   Route 6A is one of the loveliest roads in Massachusetts, and one of the slowest. It is narrow and winding, shaded by old trees and lined with houses close to the verge, and the speed limit hardly ever rises above thirty or forty kilometres an hour in the villages. In July and August, the traffic of cars looking for beaches, antiques and fried clams crawls along it, and a motorcycle spends a lot of time in a queue. Go in May, June or September, or on a weekday morning, and the road is a pleasure, with long runs between the villages and the marsh opening up to the right.

   Barnstable and Marstons Mills, each about six kilometres away, have the fuel and services, and Hyannis, a bit further south, is the commercial hub of the Cape. West Barnstable has a general store and a couple of places for a bite, and you will find better and more choice a short ride along the road. In October, when the cranberry bogs are flooded and the berries float in a red carpet, the area is at its most photogenic.

3. Yarmouth Port scenic

   Yarmouth Port is a village on the north side of Cape Cod, and its main street, Route 6A, is one of the most beautiful old roads in New England. This is the Old King's Highway, laid out in the seventeenth century and lined with the houses of sea captains who made fortunes in the nineteenth. White clapboard mansions with widow's walks, grey shingled cottages and neat gardens sit behind low walls, and the whole village is a historic district. It is slow, quiet and handsome, and the pace seems to adjust you.

   The captains' houses tell the story of the Cape's maritime age. The Captain Bangs Hallet House, built around 1840, is open as a museum, and Hallet's Store, with its old soda fountain, has been serving ice cream since 1889. Edward Gorey, the author and illustrator of strange, elegant, darkly comic books, lived in the village for years, and his old house is now a museum full of his drawings and his collections. Down at the bay, Gray's Beach has a boardwalk across the marsh and a long, shallow shore that is warm in summer and ideal for children.

   For a rider, the road demands the right mood. The speed limit is low, the lanes are narrow, and the road curves gently between stone walls and old trees. There are cyclists, walkers, and drivers admiring the houses, and local police take speed seriously. This is a ride for looking rather than racing. Traffic builds on summer weekends, with the Cape's bridges backing up at peak times, so go early in the morning or in autumn, when the light is soft and the crowds are gone.

   Fuel is available in Hyannis and Yarmouth, a few minutes away, and the village has cafés and a few restaurants. Park and walk, because the details are lovely. Salt marsh smells, the creak of old signs and the occasional church bell make the stop an easy one.

4. Dennis scenic

   Dennis is spread across the upper arm of Cape Cod, with Route 6A running through it as a quiet, leafy road past antique shops, white churches and the long, shallow shore of Cape Cod Bay. Founded in the 1600s as part of Yarmouth and incorporated separately in 1793, it was named for the Reverend Josiah Dennis, a local minister, and in the early nineteenth century its sea captains and salt makers did well. Today the town is a mix of old village centres and summer cottages.

   The Cape Playhouse, opened in 1927, is one of the oldest professional summer theatres in the country, and over the decades has hosted many famous names, and Bette Davis is said to have started there as an usher. A short walk away, the Cape Museum of Fine Arts shows work by artists associated with the Cape, many of whom were drawn by its clear light. In the village of Dennis, a small stone tower stands on Scargo Hill, the highest point in town, and from the top you can look across the bay to the hook of Provincetown on a clear day. Below it lies Scargo Lake, which legend says was dug by a Native princess for her fish.

   The road is a gentle one. The surface is mostly good, the bends are mild, and the speed limit is low, with frequent crosswalks and drivers turning into driveways. Summer traffic is heavy, particularly on weekend afternoons, and bikes share the road with a lot of cyclists on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which crosses it. Early morning rides, when the marsh is misty and the light is low, are the most rewarding. Evening brings the soft pink glow of sunset across the bay.

   Fuel is available in nearby Yarmouth, four kilometres away, and the village has cafés, a bakery and clam shacks serving fried seafood. Dress in layers, since the bay breeze can be cool, and make time to stop at one of the small beaches at sunset.

5. Brewster scenic

   Brewster lies on the northern shore of Cape Cod, along the Cape Cod Bay side, where the tide goes out so far that the flats stretch for a mile or more, leaving a vast expanse of wet, rippled sand dotted with seabirds and people digging for clams. At low tide, you can walk a long way out toward the water, and at high tide, the bay fills quickly, so the locals check the tables. The town is quiet, wooded and relaxed, and the main road through it, Route 6A, is one of the loveliest in the region.

   Route 6A, the Old King's Highway, follows the old track along the bay side of the Cape, and it is preserved as a historic district, with a ban on billboards and strict rules on new buildings. The road is lined with antique shops, galleries, old inns and white clapboard houses, with sea captains' mansions among them. In the nineteenth century, Brewster was home to dozens of sea captains, who sailed the world and brought back goods and fortune. The town's old general store has been selling penny candy and groceries for more than a century.

   Inland, the landscape is a product of the glaciers. Nickerson State Park, a large area of pine forest and freshwater ponds, sits among kettle holes, depressions left when great blocks of ice melted and left deep ponds, and it has camping, swimming and miles of bike trails. The Cape Cod Rail Trail, a paved path along an old railway, passes through the park. At Stony Brook, in spring, you can watch herring swimming up a series of steps beside a restored mill, a spectacle that draws crowds in April and May.

   For riders, the Cape is slow but charming, with 6A a gentle road that bends past old houses and marshes, though traffic in summer can be heavy and the speed limit low. Early morning is the best time. Harwich, about eight kilometres away, and Orleans have fuel stations and shops, and Brewster itself has a few restaurants and cafes serving chowder, fried clams and ice cream. Sea breezes keep the temperature moderate, and fog can roll in. Autumn is excellent, with warm days, cool nights and empty roads.

6. Orleans finish

   Orleans sits at the elbow of Cape Cod, where the arm of the peninsula bends north into the open Atlantic, and the sense of being at the edge of something begins here. It is a small town of about fifteen hundred year-round residents, with a handful of shops, a pleasant harbour at Rock Harbor and a few miles of beach on either side. The Cape Cod National Seashore, created in 1961 under President Kennedy, begins to the north in Eastham and runs along the outer shore for forty miles, a long line of high dunes, marsh and ocean beach.

   The town has an unlikely place in the history of communication. In 1891 a transatlantic telegraph cable from Brest, in France, came ashore here, and the French Cable Station remained in operation for decades. The Nauset Light, a small red-and-white lighthouse a short way north in Eastham, was moved back from an eroding cliff in 1996, a reminder of how quickly the sea is taking the outer coast, which retreats by about a metre or more a year.

   On a motorcycle, the Outer Cape is a gentle, unhurried place. Route 6A and the smaller roads are narrow and shaded, with cranberry bogs, saltmarsh and low pine woods, and speeds are slow. The best views are of dunes, ponds and the ocean breaking on wide beaches. Summer traffic is the main issue, since the single road in and out of the Cape is jammed on Friday and Sunday afternoons, with cars crawling for hours at the bridges. An early start or a midweek trip makes all the difference. September and early October are the sweetest months, with warm water, clear light and fewer people.

   Fuel is available in Orleans and Eastham, and prices are higher than on the mainland, so it makes sense to fill before crossing the bridges. Seafood is the local pleasure, with fried clams, lobster rolls, oysters from the bay and chowder, and a lobster shack by the water is a good place to rest. The ponds around Wellfleet are a pleasant place for a swim.

   Watch for sand on the road near the beaches, and for cyclists, who are common. A walk on the beach at sunset, with the whole Atlantic ahead of you, is a good way to finish the day.

Where this sits

Rides near here