Picnic area · Cape Cod National Seashore
A covered picnic stop with a short, history-lined walk.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Cape Cod Tour Guide
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
Pilgrim Heights and Pilgrim Spring“Coming up is Pilgrim Heights, where a covered shelter makes a useful picnic stop away from the beach sand. Bring your own lunch; there's no food service here.”
Plays as you drive up to Pilgrim Heights in the Parkwolf Cape Cod Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
Pilgrim Heights is a roadside picnic and interpretation stop on Pilgrim Heights Road in North Truro. The covered shelter and tables sit at the Pilgrim Spring trailhead, so you can eat under cover or take the easy 0.7-mile loop, about 30 minutes. Bring a picnic; there is no food service at the stop.
The Pilgrim Spring loop winds through recovering pine and oak woods, passing a commemorative marker and the spring site before returning near the seasonal restrooms. It is easy overall, but log steps and a moderate grade make it less than a smooth paved stroll. Leashed dogs are allowed. The nearby Small's Swamp trailhead gives you another short walk from the same parking area.
The spring site represents where the Pilgrims drank their first fresh water in New England during their first exploration of Cape Cod; it is not a confirmed original spring location. By 1972, the shelter was already an interpretive stop, with a relief map and exhibits about Pilgrim and Indigenous histories. The present condition of those displays is unclear.
Wildlife
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.
Keep exploring
EasyPilgrim Spring Trail0.7 mi · 30 min · At the trailheadA short wooded loop to a bluff view and historic spring site.
EasySmall's Swamp Trail0.6 mi · 30 min · At the trailheadA quick loop with a boardwalk, wetland, and bluff views.
EasyHead of the Meadow Bike Trail2 mi · 30 min · 0.5 mi awayTwo paved miles through coastal woods to the beach.
EasyHigh Head Road Trail0.9 mi · 30 min · 0.5 mi awayA short sandy path to the bay, with deep sand underfoot.
ModerateHead of the Meadow Beach and Bike Trail Loop4.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.4 mi awayA beach walk, sandy cut-through, and paved return.
ModerateWoods Walk at Highlands Center1 mi · 30 min · 3.1 mi awayA mile-long woods loop with a Cold War backstory.
EasyBeech Forest Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 4.5 mi awayA quiet pond loop with spring birds and one steep dune climb.
ModerateProvince Lands Bike Trail5.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.5 mi awayA paved 5.45-mile loop through dunes, pines, and cranberry bogs.
Campground · 1.3 mi awayNorth of Highland Camping AreaWooded tent camping a short walk from Head of the Meadow Beach.
Beach · 1.3 mi awayHead of the Meadow BeachVery low tides sometimes uncover the wreck of the Frances.
Lodging · 1.9 mi awayHighland Beach SuitesThree rental suites five minutes from Coast Guard Beach.
Beach · 2.1 mi awayCoast Guard Beach (Truro)High dunes, Atlantic surf, and a broad beach at road’s end.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayHighland House MuseumA former resort hotel packed with Outer Cape history.
Sight · 2.5 mi awayHighland LinksA nine-hole links course with Atlantic views and a lighthouse beside it.
Sight · 2.6 mi awayHighland LightClimb the 1857 lighthouse moved 450 feet inland from the cliff.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayPayomet Performing Arts CenterClose-up shows under canvas, but access is event-only.Parkwolf’s Cape Cod ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
