Shining Sea Bikeway — Local services in Falmouth

While vacationing with my family in the Falmouth section of Massachusetts, I came across the Shining Sea Bikeway. I was looking for a safe place to run that was away from street traffic and it seemed like the perfect place to do my run. As I ran through this trail, I became impressed with all the amazing amenities it had to offer. There were mile markers every half mile and various works of art peppered throughout the route. Everything along the route was made to cater to the cyclist. There were bathrooms, bike pumps, plenty of informational signage, and occasional picnic tables. There were even food establishments within a stone's throw of the route. I did some research and found out that the route was the site of an old train line that ended at the ferry at Wood's Hole. By 1975, the tracks were removed to make way for a recreation route for cyclists, runners, and walkers. I liked the fact that most of the route I ran had tree cover which protected me from the hot summer Sun. The total length of the route was 10.7 miles. I highly recommend the Shining Sea Bikeway, especially to those who love to cycle. The route is completely flat, so it's good for younger cyclists as well. And the amazing thing is that you can cycle it for 10.7 miles to the end, then take the ferry with your bike straight to Martha's Vineyard, then continue biking on the Vineyard. There are still parts of the route where you can see some of the old train tracks revealing how it once looked when the route was used for train travel. This was such an unexpected gem to find and I'm glad...

Amazing 10 mile long bike and walking/running path. Completely car free, had to cross a few small roads but never had to ride along side the road at any point on the trail. Relatively flat with great views. Several parking lots along the path, search shining sea parking in google maps and the actual lots will show up. Most of the parking lots have water bottle refill stations which was convenient. Start on the north end and take a break in Woods Hole at one of the many restaurants there before returning. The most scenic section (in my opinion) was between West Falmouth and Woods Hole, with the marsh just south of the West Falmouth parking lot and a nice stretch of beach a little north of Woods Hole. So if looking for a shorter ride you could skip the most northern section, although it was nice and shaded since it was mostly...

This trail is absolutely amazing. I started around Falmouth Main st and rented bikes. We had such a fun time biking on a paved well kept trail with fantastic scenery of ponds, beaches, and ending with a slice of pie at Pie in the Sky in Woods Hole. The coastline along the path reminded me of my travels to south France and was relatively uncrowded even for a pleasant sunny Sunday in July.

As a side note, there is some commentary that this is the wrong location. Personally, I rented bikes from Corner Cycle in Falmouth center and got to the trail from there. You can either go in north Falmouth or Woods Hole...