Plenty of Pedaling Around Cape Cod and the Islands

Biking has always been one of the most popular activities for visitors to Cape Cod and the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. You can safely enjoy both road and mountain biking on the many paved and off-road bike paths. Bike shops are plentiful if you need to rent a bike for adults or children. Since biking is an activity the whole family can enjoy, child trailers are also available.

Cape Cod

Throughout the Cape, you have your choice of both paved and unpaved bikeways. The most popular paved trails include:

• Cape Cod Canal Bikeway: A 7+ mile paved path along the canal between the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, providing wonderful views of boat traffic and ending at Scusset Beach on the mainland side of the canal.
• Shining Sea Bikeway: A 10.7-mile trail that follows the coast from North Falmouth to Woods Hole, winding along cranberry bogs, Buzzards Bay, and Vineyard Sound.
• Cape Cod Rail Trail: A 22-mile paved trail running along a former railroad right-of-way from Dennis to Wellfleet. The trail has a wide unpaved shoulder on one side to accommodate horseback riding, walkers, and runners.
• Nickerson State Park Network: An 8-mile trail winding through pine forests and along ponds and lakes of this state park in Brewster.
• Cape Cod National Seashore Network: The Nauset Marsh Trail in Eastham runs 1.5 miles into National Seashore acreage, ending at Coast Guard Beach, with a panoramic vista of the Atlantic Ocean.
• Province Lands Bike Trail: A 7+ mile trail beginning at Race Point in Provincetown and running through sand dunes and forests, ending at the ocean.

While many trails are conveniently located near our Cape Cod vacation rentals, our Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard vacation rentals also provide easy access to biking paths:

Nantucket

Nantucket’s terrain seems custom-made for bicycling -- never too steep and always scenic. There are over 24 miles of bicycle paths on Nantucket. Here is a list of bike paths. Most are separated from the roadways, making for a safe ride. Nantucket shuttle buses, equipped with bike racks, enable you to easily access any bike routes. A color-coded sign system helps guide bikers around the island.

Martha’s Vineyard

It can be a challenge to cover the whole island of Martha’s Vineyard, which is almost 100 square miles! Bike paths parallel most of the major roads, and all MVTA busses have bike racks. The mostly flat "down-Island" route -- from Vineyard Haven to Oak Bluffs to Edgartown and back—covers about 25 miles. For a more challenging trip, the "up-Island" trip to Chilmark and Aquinnah is much hillier and can cover more than 40 miles roundtrip.