(Nickerson State Park)
Hike Type: Loop
Distance: 1.81 miles
Elevation: 65 feet
Time: 43 minutes
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge
The Hike
The year is coming to an end! I was on the cape for a few days to celebrate and relax with some music teacher friends, and had about an hour to kill before my AirBnb opened up. I landed at Nickerson State Park, between Cliff and Little Cliff ponds. I wanted some time to check in and check out the house before my friends arrived, so I opted for Little Cliff. The trail started on the sandy lakefront facing Cliff Pond, and the sandy stretch concludes at the trail split. Turning right makes the big loop around Cliff Pond, and turning left makes the smaller loop around Little Cliff Pond. Both directions have yellow blazes.
The trail turns into the woods and meanders up and down before coming to another beach area, where it is clearly written that there is no swimming. The weather was in the mid 30s, and the pond was partially frozen over. The color of the pond was beautiful - a deep teal, which contrasted magnificently with the red/brown ground and the sandy distance. The trail then comes to the gate at Higgin’s Pond, and soon wraps back to the parking lot. This was a fantastic, short hike around a beautiful pond on Cape Cod. I was very excited to get back here to explore big Cliff Pond! I was greeted by the beginning of a beautiful sunset as I was driving away.
“Nickerson State Park” from Wikipedia
“The land composing the park was once part of the estate of Samuel Mayo Nickerson (1830–1914), a native of the area and a Chicago liquor distiller who made a fortune as one of the founding officers of the First National Bank of Chicago.[3] In 1890, Nickerson built Fieldstone Hall on land overlooking Cape Cod Bay a mile west of the park to be the home of his son Roland C. Nickerson, Roland's wife Addie, and their three children. Fieldstone Hall was lost to fire in 1906, and a larger mansion was built on the same site. That building subsequently became a seminary and is now a major feature of the Ocean Edge resort.[4] Roland Nickerson died at age 51 shortly after Fieldstone Hall burned down, his death at the time being ascribed to his heartache at the loss of his home and personal possessions.[5] His son Roland Jr. was a naval lieutenant who died in the 1918 influenza epidemic. In 1934, Addie Nickerson donated the portion of the estate on the south side of Route 6a for use as a "state forest park." It became the Commonwealth's first state park and was named in honor of her late husband and late son.[6]”
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