Shining Sea Bikeway
Encyclopedia
The Shining Sea Bikeway is a rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...

 in Falmouth, MA, in the north-east United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The path runs for over ten miles (16 km), including nearly a mile along Surf Drive Beach on Vineyard Sound
Vineyard Sound
Vineyard Sound is the stretch of the Atlantic Ocean which separates the Elizabeth Islands and the southwestern part of Cape Cod from the island of Martha's Vineyard, offshore from the state of Massachusetts in the USA...

. It runs past several public parking areas, including parking for the Wood's Hole Ferry
The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority
The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, referred to coloquially as The Steamship Authority or simply the SSA, is the statutory regulatory body for all ferry operations to and from the Islands from the Massachusetts mainland, as well as being an operator of ferry service...

. It makes up the southern portion of the Plymouth and Vineyard Sound Railroad
Plymouth and Vineyard Sound Railroad
The Plymouth and Vineyard Sound Railroad was a railroad in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1861 as the Vineyard Sound Railroad Company to provide a rail link between Sandwich and Woods Hole on the western part of Cape Cod, but the name was changed in 1868 before the...

, which was later absorbed by the Cape Cod Central Railroad
Cape Cod Central Railroad (1861–1868)
The Cape Cod Central Railroad was a railroad in southeastern Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1861 as an extension of the Cape Cod Railroad from Yarmouth to Orleans through the towns of Dennis, Harwich and Brewster. The 18.7 mile line opened for service in December, 1865.The Cape Cod Central...

.

The creation of the trail began in 1977, when the Town of Falmouth purchased the Woods Hole portion of the rail line from the defunct Penn Central for $329,000. In early 2009, the town of Falmouth completed the extension of the trail northward an additional eight miles (13 km) along the abandoned rail line, to a total of 10.7 miles (17.2 km), terminating at County Road, North Falmouth, close to the adjacent town of Bourne
Bourne, Massachusetts
Bourne is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,721 at the 2000 census.For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne , Buzzards Bay, Monument Beach, Pocasset, Sagamore, and Sagamore...

. Rail service south of North Falmouth ceased in 1989 but the northernmost half mile of the Bikeway runs adjacent to track that continues to be used to haul trash from the western portion of Cape Cod, which is collected at the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station
Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station
The Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station is a municipal waste transfer facility located at Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod. The facility is within the town limits of Falmouth, but on state-owned land at the southern end of the military reservation, and is about a mile west of the...

 on the grounds of the Massachusetts Military Reservation
Massachusetts Military Reservation
The Massachusetts Military Reservation, is a military reservation created by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States War Department in 1935. Governor James Curley signed the state bill to allocate and purchase land for a military facility, and establishing a formal commission to...

.

The northern half of the Bikeway is particularly beautiful, running through extensive salt marsh, cranberry bog, and farmland in use since the 18th century. It also features tunnels constructed by the railroad to permit cattle to reach pasturage on the other side of the tracks.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK