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Overview
About Doane Rock Picnic Area
Why stop
- Three covered pavilions pair picnic tables with grills.
Heads up
- Tables aren’t reservable, and the setup is small for large groups.
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Cape Cod Tour Guide
Your drive to Doane Rock Picnic Area, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Cape Cod National Seashore. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Doane Rock and Picnic Area0:00 / 0:28
“Up ahead is Doane Rock, Cape Cod's largest known boulder left behind by a glacier. Ice carried it away from its original home, then dropped it as the glacier melted.”
Plays as you drive up to Doane Rock Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Cape Cod Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Coast Guard Beach via Little Creek
- Salt Pond Visitor Center
- Nauset Light and the Three Sisters
- Red Maple Swamp Trail
- 56 audio storiesacross Cape Cod’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Gray Seal, Coyote, Red Fox, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 32 trails, 55 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Doane Rock Picnic Area
Bring lunch and use a pavilionDoane Rock Picnic Area is a small, wooded picnic facility in Eastham, with three covered…
Doane Rock Picnic Area is a small, wooded picnic facility in Eastham, with three covered pavilions, each holding two or three tables and a grill. A few extra tables sit in the open. It’s a handy stop for a simple meal, but the tables aren’t reservable and the setup isn’t meant for large groups. Bring your own food for the grills.
Walk it off on Doane TrailThe trail starts beside the picnic area and makes a 0.
The trail starts beside the picnic area and makes a 0.6-mile paved loop through emerging pine and oak forest, with interpretive text along the way. It takes about 30 minutes and climbs just 33 feet. The route is wheelchair accessible and works for strollers, so it’s an easy add-on after lunch.
Follow the picnic signsThe picnic area is about one mile east of Salt Pond Visitor Center on Nauset Road, toward Coast…
The picnic area is about one mile east of Salt Pond Visitor Center on Nauset Road, toward Coast Guard Beach; follow the brown signs. Doane Rock itself is a separate nearby boulder stop with its own parking area, so use the picnic-area access for the pavilions and trail. Restrooms serving the area are seasonal.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Cape Cod
459 sightingsGray SealMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
84 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
297 sightingsRed FoxMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
49 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
263 sightingsHorseshoe CrabMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
73 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Cape Cod. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
