Great Island Trail
in Massachusetts · centroid 59 mi from Boston
Length: 3.9-8.8 miles round trip (3.9 for tavern loop round trip to parking area; 8.8 for round trip to Jeremy Point overlook including tavern loop.) Allow three to five hours to explore Great Island. Location: Corner of Griffin Island and Chequessett Neck Road. From Route 6, follow green signs to Wellfleet Center; turn left onto East Commercial Street (follow signs to Wellfleet Harbor); continue along the shoreline from town pier via Chequessett Neck Road to the Great Island parking area.
(Keep water view on left after leaving Route 6.) Pets: Leashed pets are allowed in designated ares on Great Island Trail. Be sure to check trail signs for permitted areas. Features: This trail follows sandy stretches between the elevated heights of Great Island and Great Beach Hill.
Its higher elevations punctuate spectacular vistas which emerge from an even-aged, pitch-pine forest. Part of this trail leads to a colonial-era tavern site (no remains visible). Other sections skirt salt marsh embayments.
- States
- Massachusetts
- Trail type
- National Seashore trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Boston, MA · 59 mi · ~1.7 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 41.9334°, -70.0690°
About Cape Cod National Seashore
This trail is inside Cape Cod National Seashore, a national seashore managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $25 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/great-island-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/caco/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Great Island Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Nauset Bike Trail
8 miles from this trail's centroid
Doane Trail
8 miles from this trail's centroid
Small's Swamp Trail
9 miles from this trail's centroid
Pilgrim Spring Trail
9 miles from this trail's centroid
Head of the Meadow Bike Trail
9 miles from this trail's centroid
Fort Hill Trail
10 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.