Cape Cod Canal

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A striped header image reading 'Cape Cod Canal'

If you’re seeking a combination of exercise and history on the coast of Massachusetts, look no further than the Cape Cod Canal Bikeway in the Bourne Recreation Area. Managed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers New England District, a pair of signs describing the construction and history of the Vertical Life Railroad Bridge line the paved, two-lane path. Walking, biking, rollerblading, and other similar activities are permitted, while the banks near the bridge are a popular spot for fishing. If you travel on the northwest section of the path, plenty of parking is available at nearby Buzzards Bay Park. A matching parking lot for the southeast section is on the opposite side of the Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge.

A tall metal bridge with triangular trusses stretching over a canal with glistening blue water beside a two-lane paved bike trail A standard information sign created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The sign is titled Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge. It contains further information about the bridge and several images, including that of a previous bridge, the current bridge in up and down position, and the wheel inside the bridge. A tall metal bridge stretches across the glistening blue water of a canal. A standard information sign created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The sign is titled The Canal's Original Bourne Bridge and contains further information about the drawbridge that previously spanned the river, including three images of the bridge lifting to allow boats to pass underneath, and one image of a trolley that ran across the bridge.

Most American canals, including the famous Erie Canal of New York, the Blackstone River Canal of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, or the small canal of Meredith, New Hampshire, were constructed in the 1820s during the early Industrial Revolution. The Cape Cod Canal was built around a hundred years later, with initial construction starting in 1909 under private ownership and the Army Corps taking over the canal through an act of Congress in 1928. This makes the Cape Cod Canal a contemporary of the famous Panama Canal, which opened in 1914. The Cape Cod Museum Trail website has an excellent article detailing the history of the canal.

The Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge has a unique and fun design. As the name suggests, the entire middle section of the bridge contains a railroad track and spends most of the time lifted high in the air, allowing large ships to navigate the canal. The bridge takes two-and-a-half minutes to lower, allowing a single train to pass over. According to a pamphlet produced by the Army Corps and the signage beside the bridge, construction lasted from late 1933 to late 1935 and cost $1.56 million to complete (equivalent to $34 million in 2022 dollars, according to U.S. Inflation Calculator). The bridge was last renovated in 2003. Historic New England owns an image of the bridge from 1938, proving how little it has changed overtime.

Like the Upper Charles Rail Trail, the Cape Cod Canal combines exercise with history and an extra dose of architecture. Visitors can pick their own level of activity and learning, allowing people of all ages and abilities to enjoy these engineering wonders.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 8/10

Accessibility: 8/10



Location: Cape Cod Canal, Bourne, MA 02532, USA