A Column by Chris Setterlund
PROVINCETOWN -Erosion is an unfortunate side effect which comes with the incredible beauty of the coastline of Cape Cod.
The ocean and the beaches of the Cape give hundreds of thousands of people each year endless scenic views.
However the ocean takes away as well, at an average of 3.8 feet of shore per year on the ocean side of the Outer Cape.
One only has to look at the damage done from the Blizzard of ’78, the breaches in Chatham’s Lighthouse Beach, and the necessity of relocating of Nauset Light and Highland Lighthouse to know all too well what erosion is doing.
PHOTOS BY CHRIS SETTERLUND
Race Point Lighhouse
However, despite erosion being prevalent there are actually spots which are gaining shoreline. One such spot is Race Point in Provincetown.
Race Point Beach essentially is a net catching some of the sediment which is washed away on the Outer Cape.
The name ‘Race Point’ comes from the strong crosscurrent at the tip of the Cape which is known as a ‘race.’
Before there was a Cape Cod Canal, mariners had to traverse this treacherous stretch of water. The many shipwrecks here led to the nickname “the graveyard of the Atlantic.”
So many vessels were destroyed off the shores of Race Point, that mariners were calling for a lighthouse to be built on the shore as early as 1808.
Race Point Lighthouse was originally built in 1816 with the current tower erected in 1876.
The view of the Provincelands from the top of Race Point Lighthouse.
These days, it is a gem, set among the unspoiled dunes of Provincetown. It is sheltered from the ocean by an increasing shoreline, and is only accessible by foot or off-road vehicle.
Thanks to the increasing shoreline in the area, the lighthouse now sits more than six hundred feet from the water’s edge. It is approximately a mile and a half walk out to the lighthouse at the closest parking lot on Province Lands Road.
The walk over sand and and marsh takes about 30 minutes.
But the trip is well worth it once you stand before the brick and iron giant that rises up from the sand.
The entire area including the oil house and fog whistle building have been lovingly restored so that the average visitor would have no idea of the age of the buildings or the immense damage which the powerful windblown sand has done.
I had the privilege of spending some time out in this area when they were putting in a solar-powered water heater in 2011. It was an incredible thrill to stand atop the lighthouse and gaze out at a seemingly infinite mass of sand and beach plants.
I was able to attend a recent open house as well, and it only reaffirmed my love of this area.
The lighthouse keeper’s house as well as the whistle house can be rented out seasonally from Memorial Day through Columbus Day.
Whether driving over the sand in an off-road vehicle to enjoy the solitude of Race Point Beach or walking across the marsh at Hatches Harbor past the Provincetown Airport to stand in the shadow of the historic lighthouse, this location can and will take you to another place and time, making the rest of the world seem far away.
Have fun and happy traveling!
If You Go: Race Point Lighthouse sits in solitude among the dunes in Provincetown. It is accessible by foot from the Province Lands Bike Trail which begins at Herring Cove Beach and also from a parking area on Province Lands Road, approximately a mile from Herring Cove Beach on the left.
It can also be accessed by off-road vehicle with a permit from the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Chris Setterlund, who lives in Yarmouth, is a lifelong Cape Codder and the author of In My Footsteps, a guide to historical sites on Cape Cod.
