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Cape Cod National Seashore
Writing about Cape Cod in the 1800s, Henry David Thoreau said, "A man may stand there and put all America behind him." Thoreau walked the length of the great Outer Beach. Modern visitors can trace Thoreau's route along 40 miles of pristine, sandy beach protected within Cape Cod National Seashore. The national seashore comprises 43,608 acres of shoreline; salt marshes; clear, deep, freshwater kettle ponds; uplands; as well as a great diversity of species supported by these habitats. Lighthouses, a life-saving station, dune shacks, Moderne and Cape Cod-style houses, cultural landscapes, and wild cranberry bogs provide a glimpse into Cape Cod"s past and continuing life ways. The Seashore offers six swimming beaches, eleven self-guiding nature trails, and a variety of picnic areas and scenic overlooks.
Maine ocean islands provide the only nesting sites for Atlantic puffins in the United States. Eastern Egg Rock in the midcoast region, Seal Island and Matinicus Rock at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, and Machias Seal Island and Petit Manan Island off the downeast coast provide habitat for more than 4,000 puffins each summer.