Cape Cod National Seashore · Massachusetts

Small's Swamp

0.6 mi of trail, end to end · Hike the Small's Swamp Trail: 0.6 mi loop in the Service's write-up · about 70 ft of climbing · 5 ft–68 ft · hiking

17 ft 59 ft · 0.2 mi high 59 ft

Hike the Small's Swamp Trail 0.6 mi loop · the Park Service's write-up

30-60 Minutes · no dogs

Start Pilgrim Heights Parking Lot

Entrance to the Small's Swamp trail. Brown sign and trail maps on a post. Trail leads into forest.
Entrance to the Small's Swamp trail. Photo: NPS Photo

Find your trail to explore at Cape Cod National Seashore! One of eleven trails in the park is the Small's Swamp Trail, a 0.6-mile loop trail located in Truro, Massachusetts. Chosen by Native People for living sites for thousands of years for water, protection, and food sources, early-European settlers also sought to make a living on this landscape. Gradually, the soil gave out, farms were abandoned, and the landscape began its slow recovery. The forest here now hides most, but not all, of the former land uses in this area.

The trail is rated as easy. It has solid surface for the duration of the trail with some slopes and a short boardwalk surface. There are some log steps. Pets are not allowed on any of the hiking trails in the park. There are seasonal restrooms at the end of the trail in the parking lot.

Pets Pets are not allowed on any of the Seashore's walking trails. Pets are allowed seasonally on bike paths, seasonally on beaches, and year round on fire roads. Please call 508-255-3421 for more information.

Accessibility The trail is rated as easy. It has solid surface for the duration of the trail with some slopes and a short boardwalk surface. There are some log steps on the sloped sections of trail. There are seasonal restrooms in the parking lot. Contact the visitor center with any accessiblity questions, 508-255-3421.

This hike on nps.gov

On the parks map

All 12 trails in Cape Cod National SeashoreFind a trailOn the parks mapPark on nps.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.