The Fort Hill area of Cape Cod National Seashore is located in Eastham, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles south of the Salt Pond Visitor Center. For visitors traveling east on US 6, drive 1.4 miles beyond the Orleans Rotary before turning slightly right onto Governor Prence Road. Continue 0.2 miles before turning right onto Fort Hill Road. Drive 0.1 miles to the small Penniman House parking lot or 0.3 miles to the Fort Hill parking lot at the end of the road. For visitors heading west from the Salt Pond Visitor Center, turn left out of the parking lot onto Nauset Road driving 0.2 miles to the traffic light on US 6. Turn left (road west, compass south) onto US 6 and drive 1.4 miles before turning left onto Governor Prence Road. While there is a flashing caution light, this is not a controlled intersection and US 6 is a four-lane highway at this point with no turn lane and no shoulders. Rangers at the visitor center cautioned us about making this turn to the point that one volunteer even humorously suggested driving to the Orleans Rotary to turn around. Once on Governor Prence Road, drive 0.1 miles and make a slight left onto Fort Hill Road continuing 0.1 miles to the Penniman parking lot on the left or 0.3 miles to the Fort Hill parking lot at the end of the road.
Fort Hill is the highest hill in the immediate area, but a fortress was never built there. However, high ground was always preferred to other locations when needing to defend the community. There are two maintained trails in the area. First is the Fort Hill loop trail that connects the Penniman House parking lot with Skiff Hill by following the treeline along the edge of the meadow. From Skiff Hill, the trail again follows the edge of the meadow to Fort Hill before following the road back to the Penniman House parking lot. The second trail is the Red Maple Swamp Trail. It branches off of the Fort Hill trail and heads through the swamp to Hemenway Landing by way of a boardwalk. A paved trail joins the landing with Skiff Hill. The park signs show that Red Maple Swamp Trail branches off of the Fort Hill Trail 0.1 miles from the Penniman House parking lot, but my GPS shows the distance as ¼ mile. We chose to hike the loop clockwise starting at the Penniman House parking lot. At the junction with the Red Maple Swamp Trail, we chose to continue on the Fort Hill trail for another 500 feet to see if the scenery improved to no avail. Retracing our steps, we returned to the junction and hiked the ¼-mile Red Maple Swamp Trail from end to end. Near the landing is a newly constructed vault toilet. An older, closed restroom facility is located a bit further up the paved path toward Skiff Hill. From the landing to Skiff Hill is about 750 feet. A hexagonal gazebo provides shade beside a granite glacial boulder that was relocated to this location due to coastal erosion. There are a number of gouges in the rock denoting its use as a sharpening rock for countless generations of Native Americans. From Skiff Hill, the Fort Hill trail to the right leads back to the Penniman House parking lot while the trail to the left leads to Fort Hill in ½ mile. From the Fort Hill parking lot is a road walk of about 800 feet back to the Penniman House parking lot. Not counting our extra walking on the Fort Hill Trail past its junction with the Red Maple Swamp Trail nor our wandering around Hemenway Landing, the loop we traveled was about 1.3 miles. We visited in October 2021.
There are twelve paved parking spots at Fort Hill, including one handicap-accessible spot. In addition, there are fifteen paved parking spots at the Penniman House, including one handicap-accessible spot.
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| Topographic map with GPS route |
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| Trailhead at Penniman House parking lot |
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| Typical trail conditions on Fort Hill Trail |
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| View across the meadow of the Atlantic Ocean |
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| Looking back at Fort Hill |
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| The only shade we found was at the trail junction |
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| Typical non-boardwalk trail conditions on the Red Maple Swamp Trail |
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| Beginning of the boardwalk |
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| Fall foliage |
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| More fall colors |
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| Bench on the boardwalk |
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| Handrails are required when the boardwalk is too high off the ground |
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| A wide variety of plants grow in or near the swamp |
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| Another bench and the end of the handrails |
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| Typical boardwalk |
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| More fall foliage and wispy clouds |
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| Scenic view |
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| Handrails on a boardwalk bridge |
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| More fall colors |
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| The end of the Red Maple Swamp Trail forks |
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| Hemenway Landing |
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| Paved trail to Skiff Hill |
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| Three benches at an overlook |
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| View from the overlook |
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| A closer view shows the buildings of Coast Guard Beach |
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| Atlantic Ocean |
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| Pavilion at Skiff Hill |
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| The sharpening rock |
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| Back on the Fort Hill Trail |
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| The trail has narrowed to a single-track |
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| View across the meadow |
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| Another view of the marshes and the ocean |
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| The trail widens out |
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| Climbing Fort Hill |
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| View from the parking lot |
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| A single bench is at Fort Hill |
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| An 800-foot walk on the road shoulder is required to get to the Penniman House parking lot |
Cape Cod National Seashore beach entrance fees are collected daily from late June through Labor Day, and on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day to the middle of September at select beaches. The six national seashore beaches where fees are collected are Coast Guard and Nauset Light in Eastham, Marconi in Wellfleet, Head of the Meadow in Truro, and Race Point and Herring Cove in Provincetown.
When an entry fee is collected, a fee of $25 per vehicle, $20 per motorcycle, or $15 per person is valid for the same day at Cape Cod National Seashore. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Cape Cod National Seashore Annual Pass for $60.
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