Pilgrim Spring Trail Map (click to enlarge)

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See the Hiking Trails web page for an interactive location map.

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Length: .75-mile loop
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy with a few hills

The Pilgrim Spring Trail is one of two trails located at Pilgrim Heights, an area at the northern end of Cape Cod National Seashore that is reached via Pilgrim Heights Road. The road ends in a long, narrow loop and there are large parking lots that hold approximately 80 vehicles on both the west and east sides. I have no idea why 160 vehicles full of people would ever come to this area because there is nothing here other than the Pilgrim Spring Trail, Small’s Swamp Trail, and a few picnic tables.

One of two parking lots at Pilgrim Heights at the northern end of Cape Cod National Seashore

Both trails are reached from the western parking lot, which is the first one you come to. The Pilgrim Spring Trail has two trailheads, with the most obvious being the one near the picnic pavilion. This is where I started, and it sets you off hiking in the clockwise direction. The second trailhead, which is hard to find, is on the other side of the parking lot. This is where you will come out at the end of the hike.

A sign warns of poison ivy, plus the woods on Cape Cod are known to be tick infested, so I recommend wearing long pants on all hikes within the park. In some areas mosquitoes and biting flies can be problems as well. I had just finished the Small’s Swamp Trail, and that was loaded with biting flies and mosquitoes, but I didn’t have any problems on the Pilgrim Spring Trail other than running into a few mosquitoes at the actual spring site. This is because Small’s Swamp Trail passes through a swamp and the Pilgrim Spring Trail does not. For the record, I did the hike in late July, so your bugs may vary.

The sign at the start of Pilgrim Spring Trail states that the hike is just .3 mile, but that’s just the one-way distance to the site of a spring found by the Mayflower Pilgrims back in 1620. At minimum you’d have to turn around and hike back .3 mile, but the better option is to follow the loop trail so you don’t have to see the same things twice. It only adds a tenth of a mile to the overall hike.

Start of the Pilgrim Spring Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

The hike starts off on flat terrain through a pine tree forest. The trail surface is smooth, so there is no threat of tripping over rocks or roots if you aren’t paying attention. Posts that identify plants have been placed along the route. There is no trail guide for this hike as there is for Small’s Swamp Trail, so the posts are the only source of information.

Typical terrain at the start of the Pilgrim Spring Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

An overlook on a bluff is located a quarter mile into the hike. Here you get a nice view of a small creek that flows out of Pilgrim Lake less than a half mile away. You can also see the ocean and sand dunes. There is better view of this same area on Small’s Swamp Trail, but I don’t recommend that hike due to the bugs.

Bluff overlooking a creek, sand dunes, and ocean on the Pilgrim Spring Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

Just past the overlook area, the trail descends down a small hill for a tenth of a mile. At the bottom is a granite memorial that marks the area of a fresh water spring found by the Pilgrims. While they eventually settled across Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth, the cape is the first land they sighted and explored. Supposedly water still flows from the spring, but I did not see any when I visited.

Hike downhill on the Pilgrim Spring Trail to the site of the actual spring, Cape Cod National Seashore

Granite memorial marks the site of Pilgrim Spring at Cape Cod National Seashore

The paved trail next to the spring site is the Head of the Meadow Trail, a multi-use path that runs between a parking lot near Pilgrim Lake to the west and Head of the Meadow Beach to the east.

Head of the Meadow Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

With the spring site being at the lowest elevation on the hike, the trail must now make its way up and out of the ravine by ascending a long, gradual hill. Once at the top, the terrain remains level all the way back to the parking lot.

Hike on the Pilgrim Spring Trail out of the ravine where Pilgrim Spring is located, Cape Cod National Seashore

Before coming to an end, the Pilgrim Spring Trail passes through the east side parking lot. If you aren’t aware that there is an east side parking lot, you’ll be wondering who stole your car, for other than a restroom building and a few more picnic tables, the two lots are nearly identical.

Approaching the eastern parking lot at the Pilgrim Spring area of Cape Cod National Seashore

A sign opposite from the restroom building marks the continuation of the trail, which now cuts across the field that lies in the center of the loop road. It’s just 125 yards from here to the west side parking lot where the hike comes to an end.

Sign at the eastern parking lot for the Pilgrim Spring area at Cape Cod National Seashore marks the continuation of the Pilgrim Spring Trail

Location of second Pilgrim Spring Trail trailhead at Cape Cod National Seashore

Overall, the Pilgrim Spring Trail, and Small’s Swamp Trail for that matter, is not worth the time to hike. The dried up spring was a big disappointment, and the view of the creek, sand dunes, and ocean aren’t all that great. If you want a good hike at Cape Cod National Seashore, try the Great Island Trail or the Nauset Marsh Trail near the Salt Pond Visitor Center.

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