Massport to Nachursetts: Long Pasture

Passport to Nature, Mass Audubon
Long Pasture, Barnstable
August 2016

All Mass Audubon pages will begin with this picture by law.

The little center in Barnstable on the western end of Cape Cod is, I think, the newest of the Mass Audubon Centers. It’s in a house that has been converted to… well, most of it appears to still be a house, but the living room is now a teeny tiny nature center. There are a couple other rooms that may be slated to be filled with Audubony stuff; I’m not sure.

There were baby turtles.

Just down the road from the center is a little beach on an inlet/tidal marsh. If you just want to get some sun on a quiet beach, you can park (for free!) at the center and walk 3 minutes to the little beach (for free!) and hang out there (for free! On Cape Cod!)

Calvin and Hoang going to check out the little beach… and to release “Crabby” the hermit crab we’d kept all week.

It was a long, sad goodbye.

Like a pro athlete, Calvin memorialized his departed friend on his shirt.

We poked around the little center, entertaining the excited woman there for a few minutes. Then Damian and I took the short trail around the pond while Hoang and Calvin took a different trail down to the inlet.

It’s lovely

They’re lovely

The pond Damian and I circumnavigated wasn’t as lovely.

Sandy beaches, butterfly-filled meadows, woodland trails, and farm animals combine to make Long Pasture a unique experience on Cape Cod. Gentle, varied trails lead to what some have called a “million dollar view”—with Barnstable Harbor flanked by the dunes of Sandy Neck Barrier Beach. Explore our expansive tidal flats and join us for a kayak tour, boat cruise, or family nature program.