Cape Cod National Seashore | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
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Location | Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA |
Nearest city | Barnstable, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 41°57′00″N 70°00′00″W / 41.95000°N 70.00000°WCoordinates: 41°57′00″N 70°00′00″W / 41.95000°N 70.00000°W |
Area | 43,607.14 acres (176.4718 km2) |
Established | August 7, 1961 |
Visitors | 4,426,750 (in 2014) |
Governing body | National Park Service |
Website | Cape Cod National Seashore |
The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS), created on August 7, 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, encompasses 43,607 acres (68.1 sq mi; 176.5 km2) on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includes nearly 40 miles (64 km) of seashore along the Atlantic-facing eastern shore of Cape Cod, in the towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham. It is administered by the National Park Service.
Notable sites encompassed by the CCNS include Marconi Station, site of the first two-way transatlantic radio transmission, and the Highlands Center for the Arts, formerly the North Truro Air Force Station. Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars Historic District is a 1,950-acre historic district containing dune shacks and the dune environment. The glacial erratic known as Doane Rock is also located in the park.
A former United States Coast Guard station on the ocean in Truro is now operated as a 42-bed youth hostel by Hostelling International USA.