Swimming holes on Cape Cod

WILLLIAMS POND, WELLFLEET If you continue on the dirt Schoolhouse Hill Road, you reach a spit of land that separates Gull and Higgins ponds. Leave your car and you will find a narrow water passage cut through the land. This sluiceway, as it’s called, was supposedly created by Native Americans to catch herring during their seasonal run. There are two parking spaces (stickers are necessary) to swim in Higgins, but the best mode of travel is by canoe. (Rent one on the shores of Gull Pond at Jack’s, www.jacksboatrental.com.) Paddle into Higgins and then onward to remote Williams Pond through another sluiceway. This is where Henry David Thoreau visited a Wellfleet oysterman he would write about in ‘‘Cape Cod.’’ It’s also where architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer built his house on the shores, camouflaged by the trees. Take Route 6 into Wellfleet and turn right onto Gross Hill Road. A sharp left onto Gull Pond Road and Schoolhouse Hill Road will lead you to the parking lot. Rent a canoe and continue north to Higgins and Williams ponds. Stephen Jermanok can be reached at www.activetravels.com.
Julia Cumes for the Boston Globe

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WILLLIAMS POND, WELLFLEET
If you continue on the dirt Schoolhouse Hill Road, you reach a spit of land that separates Gull and Higgins ponds. Leave your car and you will find a narrow water passage cut through the land. This sluiceway, as it’s called, was supposedly created by Native Americans to catch herring during their seasonal run. There are two parking spaces (stickers are necessary) to swim in Higgins, but the best mode of travel is by canoe. (Rent one on the shores of Gull Pond at Jack’s, www.jacksboatrental.com.) Paddle into Higgins and then onward to remote Williams Pond through another sluiceway. This is where Henry David Thoreau visited a Wellfleet oysterman he would write about in ‘‘Cape Cod.’’ It’s also where architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer built his house on the shores, camouflaged by the trees. Take Route 6 into Wellfleet and turn right onto Gross Hill Road. A sharp left onto Gull Pond Road and Schoolhouse Hill Road will lead you to the parking lot. Rent a canoe and continue north to Higgins and Williams ponds.

Stephen Jermanok can be reached at www.activetravels.com.