Cape Cod Canal
At just under 7 miles long and averaging 540 feet wide, the Cape Cod Canal, with a depth of 32 feet, offers a unique vantage point for viewing ocean-going vessels and pleasure boats of all sizes. Linking Cape Cod Bay with Buzzards Bay, it is about 162 miles shorter than traveling around outer Cape Cod.
Although such a canal passage was visualized as early as the early 1600's by Captain Miles Standish and Plimoth Colony residents and during the American Revolution as a defense against British harbor blockades, it wasn't until the late 1800's that a serious attempt to open a canal was made.
The first canal, opened in 1914 as a toll canal, was dangerously narrow, winding and only 20 feet in depth. Combined with the canal's tricky tidal currents, traveling the canal could be hazardous. It was not financially profitable.
During World War I, it became a protected shipping lane for vessels as a defense against German U boats attacking along the Coast of Cape Cod.
The Cape Cod Canal was purchased by the U.S. Government on March 30, 1928, and in 1933, a five-year project was begun to straighten and widen the canal and replace the bridges spanning it making the Cape Cod Canal the widest sea-level canal (without locks) in the world. In 1985, it was recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering landmark.
Points of Interest Along the Cape Cod Canal
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Service roads which parallel both sides of the Canal are available for fishing, bicycling, jogging and walking. Each service road is approximately 7 miles long.
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Parking areas, comfort stations and picnic areas are provided at various access points along both sides of the Canal. Benches are placed along the service roads for the enjoyment of our visitors. Army Corps of Engineers Cape Cod Canal recreation information and map are at the links below.
Army Corps of Engineers recreational website for the Cape Cod Canal area