Biking

The Shining Sea Bikeway, part of a larger network of Falmouth Bike Routes, and the only route solely dedicated to bike and foot traffic, is a 10.7 mile paved pathway that weaves through four of Falmouth’s eight villages from Woods Hole, on Vineyard Sound, through salt marshes, wooded uplands, a cranberry bog and through a historic farmstead into North Falmouth. The bikeway occupies the Old Colony rail bed and offers views of “kettlehole” ponds, barrier beaches, salt marshes, cedar swamps, and the open waters of Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay. Echoes of Falmouth’s rich agricultural heritage are visible in the remaining rock walls that dot the landscape and the seven cattle tunnels that cross underneath the Bikeway.

On Cape Cod, this bikeway, whose name honors Falmouth native Katharine Lee Bates, author of the song “America the Beautiful” with its line “…and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea,” is unique as the only bike path that skirts the seashore.

The Bikeways Committee supports and advises on the use of bicycles throughout the town for transportation and recreation. Several vendors provide bicycle rentals and a comprehensive map of Falmouth’s entire inventory of bike routes can be downloaded from the town website: www.falmouthmass.us/bike.