Red Maple Swamp 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: 1.1-mile loop (includes side trip to boardwalk overlook)
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Mainly easy with one moderate hill

There are two trails at the Fort Hill area of Cape Cod National Seashore: the Red Maple Swamp Trail and the Fort Hill Trail. Together they form a Figure-8, with the center of the two loops being common to both. If you are looking for a longer hike, the trails can be combined into one, large oval. This review, however, only covers the Red Maple Swamp Trail.

The Fort Hill area has its own parking lot located just past the Captain Edward Penniman House on Fort Hill Road. The lot holds fifteen vehicles, and if it fills up, there is an overflow parking lot at the very end of the road (.2 mile farther down) that holds another dozen vehicles. There is no fee to park at either of these.

While the Fort Hill Trail can be started from either parking lot, the Red Maple Swamp Trail must be started from the first lot. Be sure to pick up a trail guide from the brochure box next to the identification sign. The guide has a map of the two trails and discusses the history of the area.

Start of the Fort Hill / Red Maple Swamp Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

To get to the Red Maple Swamp Trail you must first hike a tenth of a mile on the Fort Hill Trail. The turnoff for the Red Maple Swamp Trail is clearly marked with a sign. The Fort Hill Trail is out in the open, but the Red Maple Swamp Trail runs through the forest. I hiked the trail at the end of July and found the mosquitoes bad enough to apply insect repellent. You may also be pestered by biting flies, but repellent, even DEET, won’t have any effect on them.

Approaching the intersection with the Red Maple Swamp Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

The hike begins with a gradual descent towards the swamp on a dirt and gravel path. There are signs posted along the way that identify the plants in the area.

Typical terrain at the start of the Red Maple Swamp Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

The bottom of the hill is reached in another tenth of a mile, and at this point the earthen trail is replaced with an elevated boardwalk that carries hikers through the swamp yet out of the water and mud.

Boardwalk portion of the Red Maple Swamp Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

At one point you must do the limbo under a tree branch that has actually grown across the boardwalk. Of all the trails I’ve been on—over 500—I’ve never seen such a thing.

Limbo tree across the Red Maple Swamp Trail boardwalk at Cape Cod National Seashore

The boardwalk comes to a T-intersection a quarter mile into the hike. To the right is an out-and-back side trip that ends at an overlook platform; to the left is the main trail. I took the side trip, but in truth, there’s not much to see. I imagine that when the trail was first built that the swamp was much more evident and that the overlook actually provided some sort of view. Today it is surrounded by trees, so you get the same view as you get standing at the intersection.

Overlook platform on the Red Maple Swamp Trail boardwalk at Cape Cod National Seashore

As I continued around on the main boardwalk, I was struck by a sense of disinterest. The scenery never changes much, and because I did the hike in late July, which I assume is the dry season, I was hard pressed to see any water in the swamp. I could tell the soil was moist, but I never would have guessed that I was in a swamp. It’s certainly not a swamp in the Okefenokee sense of the word.

Hike through the Red Maple Swamp at Cape Cod National Seashore

The boardwalk ends a quarter mile later at Hemenway Road. If you need restroom, there is a fancy outhouse (what Jed Clampett would call a portable toilet in a permanent building). There is also a parking lot, and while you could begin a hike on the Red Maple Swamp Trail from here, you’ll need a Town of Eastham parking permit. This parking lot is mainly used by those starting paddling and boating trips through Nauset Marsh.

Fancy outhouse on Hemenway Road in the Fort Hill Area of Cape Cod National Seashore

Boat launch at the end of Hemenway Road in Cape Cod National Seashore

To continue on the Red Maple Swamp Trail you must take the earthen trail to the right just before the road. The trail snakes past a restroom building with modern plumbing (open summer only) and eventually comes out at a covered pavilion and Indian Rock. This is where the Red Maple Swamp and Fort Hill trails merge.

Satellite view of the end of the Red Maple Swamp Trail boardwalk

Covered pavilion at Indian Rock in the Fort Hill area of Cape Cod National Seashore

Indian Rock was used as a grinding stone by the Nauset Indians. On it they would sharpen rocks and bones to make spear tips and axes. The rock was originally in another location nearby; the National Park Service moved it here in 1965 when Cape Cod National Seashore first opened.

Indian Rock at Cape Cod National Seashore

Gouges from sharpening rocks and bones on Indian Rock at Cape Cod National Seashore

You can also get a good view of Nauset Marsh from here. There are some wayside exhibits on the marsh ecosystem and the animals you might spot.

View of Nauset Marsh from Indian Rock at the Fort Hill area of Cape Cod National Seashore

If you want to make a longer hike (1.6 miles), you can continue on the Fort Hill Trail. From the pavilion, take the trail that heads east and follows a bluff above the marsh. This is in the opposite direction from where you just came. I suggest this hike because it is much more interesting and scenic than the Red Maple Swamp Trail.

Cape Cod National Seashore’s Fort Hill Trail heads east from Indian Rock

If your goal is to hike the Red Maple Swamp Trail only, take the path to the south. This is the section that is common to both Fort Hill-area trails. It will take you directly back to the parking lot.

Hike back to the parking lot on the Red Maple Swamp Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore

I didn’t get much out of the Red Maple Swamp Trail. Maybe it might be better earlier in the year when there is more water and it actually looks like a swamp. I only suggest hiking it if combined with the Fort Hill Trail because on their own neither is long enough to provide a decent amount of exercise. There are two other swamp trails within Cape Cod National Seashore, and if I had to pick one, I’d choose the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail in Wellfleet.

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