Race Point Beach
Provincetown, MA
Race Point Beach sits at the very tip of Cape Cod, a wide, wild stretch of sand within Cape Cod National Seashore where the land runs out and the Atlantic opens up in every direction. Whale watching boats pass close enough offshore to spot from the beach on a clear day.
The genuine end-of-the-world feeling at the very tip of the Cape is hard to match anywhere else in Massachusetts, though the seasonal shorebird closures can shrink the usable beach in summer.
How we score beachesHerring Cove, a short drive away, stays open to dogs all summer even when Race Point closes sections for nesting shorebirds. Check both before picking one for a dog day.
A $25 vehicle fee covers the day in season, June through September. Beach admission stops being charged after 4:30pm.
A boardwalk crosses the dune from the lot to the sand. The beach itself is wide and open.
Leashed dogs (6 feet max) are welcome year-round, though sections close seasonally to protect nesting piping plovers and other shorebirds.
Water stays cool, generally in the 60s even in August, typical of outer Cape Cod. Fall and winter bring dramatic, nearly empty beach walks once the shorebird closures lift.
More Atlantic Coast beaches
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Surfside Beach
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Open Atlantic swell and a wide sandy shoreline about three miles from Nantucket town, popular with locals for its bodysurfing waves and quieter, less commercial feel.
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