README before using our guides to Long Walks on Cape Cod

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Long Walks on Cape Cod

Copyright 1997 Cape Cod Trails Conference

     Punkhorn Parklands

USGS Map:           Harwich

Sketch Map of Route

Topo Map

Trailhead:          Dirt parking lot at the end of Run Hill Road,
                            east off Stony Brook Road in Brewster.

Guide:
 

     Punkhorn Parklands is a major conservation area in the Town
of Brewster, purchased by the town to protect it from development
and to preserve its varied environment.  It is a composite of
wild areas and remnants of l9th century agriculture.

    At first, the Punkhorn seems vast and forbidding.  The way to
solve it is to realize that you are essentially walking back and forth
between and near two dirtroads - Westgate and Eastgate.  They
run north and south and are roughly parallel. In fact, Westgate is
a continuation of Run Hill Road that can be driven on to Harwich.

Note:   This guide is now a combination of three short
walks and a connecting route.  See, download, and print
the guides and maps in
   
    www.cctrails.org/Punkhorn_Parklands.html.

     The connecting route is as follows, referring to the Topo Map above:

     Walk south on Archie's Cartway (020) for about one-quarter mile
to a fork.  Where the road goes to the right (021) is a private area,
blocked by fallen trees and protected by dogs.  So stay south as
the little woods road gradually fades to a narrow path and then
gently curves around a tiny pond (022-023) before heading east to
cross Westgate Road (024).

     On the other side of the road, pick up the path again behind
a dirt barrier.  Stay on it until you reach another path heading
northeast (025).  That is Deep Punkhorn Path, which is reputed to be a
remnant of a principal north-south route of the Native Americans.
We have avoided walking far enough south to reach Squantum Path,
because you would be in a posted area of the Harwich Water
Department.

     Stay resolutely on a northeast course (026), avoiding the
temptation to go off on intersecting paths.  We'll save those for
another walk through the middle of the Punkhorn Parklands.  On
this walk, we are going around the perimeter.  In a mile, you will
reach Punkhorn Road at a T intersection (027).