Red Maple Swamp Trail

Red Maple Swamp Trail is an easy out-and-back from Hemenway Road to its Fort Hill connection, with boardwalk sections threading through a red maple wetland. The park lists 0.8 mile round trip and 20–30 minutes. The mapped line follows the named swamp route to the Fort Hill junction; it is about 0.47 mile one way, so walking that whole line out and back comes out closer to 0.9 mile. The broader Fort Hill walk is an optional extension. This is a good quick change from the Cape’s beaches and dunes, but it’s mostly an enclosed woods-and-wetland walk rather than a big open view.

Start at the Hemenway Road lot and follow the trail into the swamp. Raised boardwalk bends beneath the canopy and keeps the walk on the wetland’s surface; the route is nearly level, with only a small rise toward Fort Hill. The tree cover makes this a shaded walk in summer. In fall, red maple leaves turn orange and red, giving the swamp its strongest color. If you start from the Fort Hill side, there are steps down to the trail, so don’t assume the whole route is step-free.

Before the seashore was established in 1961, residents dug drainage ditches through the swamp to cut down on mosquitoes. The ditches dried the wetland soils and encouraged dense shrubs underneath the maples. Closing them now could flood neighboring private property, so the wetland can’t simply be returned to its earlier water pattern. In 2023, researchers cleared small plots beside the trail to study red maple regeneration. Seedlings came up, and some reached six inches before going dormant for winter; you can see the study plots from the trail edge.

The trail was first developed in 1964, then closed in 2010 when its boardwalk had deteriorated. A repair project rebuilt the curved boardwalk and finished a final spur in 2017; the trail reopened in 2018 with help from local supporters. That curved path is still the walk’s defining feature: look back along it through the trees rather than expecting a wide overlook from the swamp itself.

From Route 6, turn onto Hemenway Road and follow it to the lot beside the trail entrance and seasonal restrooms. Hemenway Landing is town-managed. During Eastham’s summer parking season, a town beach sticker or day pass is required; day passes aren’t sold at Hemenway Landing, so arrange one elsewhere before you go. The lot’s capacity wasn’t established. Dogs aren’t allowed on the trail.

At either end, you can connect with the separate Fort Hill Trail. Its roughly one-mile loop crosses open fields and gives the wide Nauset Marsh views the swamp walk doesn’t. Add it if you want a longer outing and open scenery; keep to the short out-and-back if the boardwalk and red maple canopy are the point.