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Section 9. Cape Cod Rail Trail

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Section 9. Cape Cod Rail Trail Cyclists on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, near Long Pond, Harwich. (See Appendix G for photo information.) SECTION 9. CAPE COD RAIL TRAIL 9.1. INTRODUCTION the DCR, which is responsible for managing the entire park. In addition, the DCR also owns 10,600 The Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) is one of the feet of railroad bed beyond the CCRT’s current DCR’s most popular parks. Each year it attracts an northern terminus in Wellfleet, and several parcels, estimated 400,000 visitors (NPS and CCC 2010) ranging in size from 0.3 to 3.9 acres, along the who bicycle, walk, run, skate, ride horses, and cross- CCRT in Dennis, Harwich, and Brewster. country ski. This linear park extends approximately 21.9 miles, from Route 134 in Dennis to LeCount This section considers DCR-owned portions of the Hollow Road in Wellfleet, atop a former railroad CCRT, and the DCR’s management responsibilities bed that once carried trains travelling between for the entire trail. Information is presented for the Boston and Provincetown. (Figures 9.1 and 9.2) A DCR-owned portions of the CCRT and, when paved multi-use path extends down the center of the available, also for the Town of Orleans and CCNS park. The CCRT passes by wetlands, cranberry owned portions of the CCRT. The 3.7 mile rail trail bogs, salt marshes, pond shores, power line extension into Dennis and Yarmouth is not included corridors, forests, residential neighborhoods, motels in this section. Readers interested in this extension, and rental cottages, cemeteries, retail districts, and which is not yet under the ownership or control of industrial areas. Visitors travelling the length of the the DCR, are directed to Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, park are introduced to the many faces of Cape Cod. Inc. and Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc. (2007). Also not included in this section is the Old Colony Rail The park’s land is owned by three governmental Trail, which is often misidentified as an extension of entities. The Town of Orleans owns all of the the Cape Cod Rail Trail. railroad bed within its municipal boundaries. Similarly, the National Park Service owns the The CCRT’s physical, political, and regulatory railroad bed within the Cape Cod National Seashore attributes are summarized in Table 9.1.1. (CCNS). The majority of the rail trail is owned by 9-1 ORLEANS Cape Cod Bay Bike Rental != !j (!6A U n d e Roland C. r p a ad s Nickerson Ro s r e R ow L o State Park a d d a BREWSTER o R e n !j to ls 6A il (! M S124 TS137 Stony Brook Road T A Brewster i r d l i a n o e R State Forest F t re R e G em k r Sheep an o c e s a Wa a tu y a t Pond d F S ie ld s R o a d Long Seymour et Road Pond Setuck t Ba Pond an y Ro as ad Ple 124 ut6 TS L ong P ond Drive TS137 S d l o t a u o g e R h e Hinckley's r R t e o 39 in S a (! l r d Pond h Ai c Hawksnest r u h State Park C Headwaters !j DENNIS D e p Drive o t S t r e 6 e ut t HARWICH d nne Roa Queen A 39 134 (! d 137 TS a o TS R d t !j Roa Sand Pond o n p ester !C reat W e CHATHAM G D !j Main Street C ha th am U R p West oa p d e r Reservoir 39 C (! 28 o (! u n D 124 t y e TS R p o o a t d S t r e e t != Building Salt Marsh !C Trailhead Open Water Cape Cod Rail Trail (South) !j Parking Area Other Protected Open Space Figure 9.1. Major Roads Nickerson Complex Hydrologic Connection Fee Interest 0 10.5 µ Town Boundary Conservation Restriction Mile Marsh Other Legal Interest Geographic information provided by MassGIS and DCR GIS. 9-2 O c e a n v i e w 6 D ut r i v (!6A e !j !_!C WELLFLEET Cape Cod National Seashore d a o R t s e W ut6 (!6A d Nauset a o !j R Road t i o s a d s le Roa s ab C O a c M e Bracke a tt Road N n a V u i !_ s e e w t R D o r i a v d e Cape Cod Bay oad e R d oan a D o EASTHAM R k o o r B g n i r r e H Samoset !j Road ut6 (!6A d oa R e idg r B ORLEANS !_ Composting Toilet Salt Marsh !C Trailhead Open Water Cape Cod Rail Trail (North) !j Parking Area Other Protected Open Space Figure 9.2. Major Roads Cape Cod Rail Trail Hydrologic Connection Fee Interest 0 10.5 µ Town Boundary Easement Mile Marsh Geographic information provided by MassGIS and DCR GIS. 9-3 Cape Cod Rail Trail Table 9.1.1. Physical, political, and regulatory settings feet near Namskaket Creek in Brewster and Orleans, of the Cape Cod Rail Trail. and rises to approximately 60 feet at its terminus in Setting Name or Metric Wellfleet. The sharpest changes in topography are Location: Dennis, Harwich, man-made, and associated with the bridges over Brewster, Orleans, Route 6 in Harwich and Orleans, and the Route 6 Eastham, Wellfleet underpass in Eastham. Area (acres)a,b: DCR-owned 201.63 Water Resources Town of Orleans 18.53 a,b Although the CCRT has few of its own water Perimeter (miles) : resources (Table 9.2.1), such resources are common DCR-owned 40.35 on abutting properties. Town of Orleans 4.01 Landscape Designation(s)c: Parkland Table 9.2.1. Water resources of the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Legislative Districts: House 1st Barnstable Water Resource Name or Metric 4th Barnstable Watershed: Cape Cod Senate Cape and Islands Aquifer: Cape Cod SSA Regulatory Designations: Priority Habitat Lens Monomoy Inner Cape Cod Bay Nauset ACEC Chequesset Outstanding Resource Rivers and Streams (miles)a,b Waters – Inner Cape Cod DCR-owned 0.34 Bay ACEC Town of Orleans 0.10 Old Kings Highway Vernal Pools Regional Historic District Certified (#) 0 a. Calculated using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Potential (#) 0 b. Existing GIS data do not differentiate the rail bed from adjacent a,b Wetlands (acres) portions of the CCNS. Because of this, metrics are unavailable for the CCNS portion of the rail trail. DCR-owned 3.95 c. For a summary of the DCR’s landscape designations, see Town of Orleans 1.83 http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/ld/ld-factsheet-final.pdf. Lakes and Ponds (acres)a, b, c DCR-owned 0.50 Associated Properties. The CCRT serves as a Town of Orleans 0.00 greenway that passes through, and connects, two a. Calculated using a Geographic Information System (GIS). other DCR properties: Nickerson state park (Section b. Existing GIS data do not differentiate the rail bed from adjacent 7) and Brewster State Forest (Section 14). It is portions of the CCNS. Because of this, metrics are unavailable for managed by the staff of Nickerson state park. the CCNS portion of the rail trail. c. Includes overlap with adjacent water bodies. 9.2. NATURAL RESOURCES Limited portions of the park are susceptible to The CCRT is a linear park that was originally a flooding and storm surge. (Table 9.2.2) However, railroad corridor. Its narrowness, approximately 80- flooding in even limited segments may result in trail feet wide at most locations, means that the park closure, disrupting park use and rerouting shares resources with abutting properties. Historic recreationists onto public roads. and current land uses on these properties influenced, and continue to influence, the park’s natural One hundred year flood zones associated with rivers, resources. streams, ponds, and salt marshes often extend onto the CCRT. (Table 9.2.2) The greatest threat occurs Physical Features where the trail passes near salt marshes. For Due to its past use as a railroad bed, the topography example, over 3,000 linear feet of paved multi-use of the CCRT typically ranges from level to a gentle path are within the 100-year flood zone in Orleans. incline. The trail begins in Dennis at an elevation of Portions of the CCRT within 500-year flood zone approximately 40 feet, drops to approximately 10 tend to be adjacent to large, freshwater ponds. 9-4 Cape Cod Rail Trail Table 9.2.2. Potential impacts of flooding, hurricane Rare Species inundation, and sea level rise on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. State-listed Species Town of Fourteen state-listed species are known. (Table DCR-owned Orleans Type of Impact Acres (%)a Acres (%)a 9.2.4) Many are associated with adjacent properties, Flooding: others may pass along or across the path, and still 100-year Storm 8.76 (4.34) 4.70 (25.34) others may incorporate portions of the CCRT into 500-year Stormb 9.95 (4.93) 4.83 (26.02) their habitats. As of this writing, the spatterdock Hurricane Inundation: darner has been proposed for delisting under MESA. Category 1 Storm 0.73 (0.36) 0.24 (1.29) Table 9.2.3. State-listed species of the Cape Cod Rail c Category 2 Storm 2.47 (1.22) 0.67 (3.61) Trail, as identified by the NHESP.
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