Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

August 10, 2020 Sunny

The Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR) consists of open waters, barrier beaches, marshlands and uplands on the south shore of Cape Cod in the towns of Falmouth and Mashpee.

After visiting the nearby and worthwhile South Cape Beach State Park we wanted to explore some of the trails in the reserve, but had difficulty finding something suitable. We settled on a short loop called the Great Flat Pond Trail, accessed from the main beach parking lot.

It was a short loop through dense forest on a narrow path.

Although it was only a 1/2 mile around, we realized after just a few seconds why it was so quiet here – the place was swarming with mosquitoes and they were happy to have some visitors. We quickly reached for the Deep Woods Off but also felt compelled to move quickly, which made it less than enjoyable.

We reached the first lookout toward the pond, snapped a few quick photos, and then decided to turn around and get out of the forest.

We recommend visiting this trail out of season or be prepared to cover up and use the good stuff (DEET) to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

• A buggy trail that had some promise if visiting off-season.
• We couldn’t find any trails. It was very buggy and we had to turn back.
• Since everyone is talking about the bugs, the trail was pretty smooth and looked nice (except for the bugs.)
• This one was super buggy and bad.
• We tried to walk through this one, but it was so buggy, we had to turn back.

For more information: Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve official site.