Fort Hill Area

Fort Hill Area Review

The road to the Cape Cod National Seashore's Fort Hill Area winds past the Captain Edward Penniman House, ending at a parking area with a lovely view of old farmland traced with stone fences that rolls gently down to Nauset Marsh and a red-maple swamp. Appreciated by bird-watchers and nature photographers, the 1-mi Red Maple Swamp Trail begins outside the Penniman House and winds through the area, branching into two separate paths, one of which eventually turns into a boardwalk that meanders through wetlands. The other path leads directly to Skiff Hill, an overlook with benches and informative plaques that quote Samuel de Champlain's account of the area from when he moored off Nauset Marsh in 1605. Also on Skiff Hill is Indian Rock, a large boulder moved to the hill from the marsh below. Once used by the local Nauset tribe as a sharpening stone, the rock is cut with deep grooves and smoothed in circles where ax heads were whetted.