Truro (Massachusetts)

Truro is a town in Massachusetts on Cape Cod and includes the village of North Truro. Truro has great unspoiled natural beauty and beaches with high sandy cliffs on the ocean side. Cape Cod Light (sometimes called Highland Light) is the oldest lighthouse on Cape Cod. One of the joys in Truro is exploring all the back roads, discovering small beaches and quaint properties.

Days' Cottages along Route 6A in North Truro

See also: Cape Cod National Seashore

Get in

Wellfleet and Provincetown are the bordering towns.

By car

Truro is about an hour from the Cape Cod Canal in Bourne via Route 6.

• From Boston take I-93 south to Route 3 south to the Sagamore Bridge (becomes Rt. 6).
• From Providence or points south take I-95 north to I-195 to Route 25 south to the Bourne Bridge (I-495 also becomes Route 25). At the rotary (traffic circle) on the Cape side, go almost all the way around and travel along the Canal to Route 6 east.

By bus

• Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway, 17 Elm Av., Hyannis, [phone].
• The Flex, Hyannis Transportation Center, Hyannis, Regional Transit Authority Customer Service: [phone]; TTY for Deaf and Hearing Impaired: [phone]. Service between Mid Cape and Outer Cape towns.

Get around

Route 6 is the main highway connecting Truro with contiguous towns. An alternate Route, 6A, parallels Route 6 to the west and skirts the bay. A car is useful for exploring the bordering towns of Provincetown and Wellfleet and the Cape Cod National Seashore.

See

• Truro Historical Museum and Highland Light, Light House Road (via Highland Rd), ☎ [phone]. Admission $4 for one, $6 for both, under 12 free (must be 51 inches (1.3 m) tall to climb the lighthouse). The oldest lighthouse on Cape Cod, originally built in 1797, rebuilt in 1857, and one of the most powerful lights on the East Coast, with a beam reaching 23 miles offshore. Perched on one of the highest cliffs (120 ft (40 m)) on the Cape, it was moved back from the edge of the cliff in 1996. The museum, built in 1907 as an inn for tourists, is interesting in itself, but also has 17th century firearms, shipwreck mementos, early fishing and whaling gear and a pirate’s chest. 

Do

• Payomet Performing Arts Center, Old Dewline Road, (At Highlands Center), Truro, [phone] (General Information), [phone] (Box Office), .

Beaches

Beach parking permits are required at Truro town beaches between the 3rd Saturday in June through Labor Day. Parking permits are issued to residents who own property in Truro and nonresidents who are staying in Truro. For visitors who do not fall into either of the aforementioned categories Truro offers two beaches where anyone may park for a daily fee of $10, which can be paid at the beach. The pay-by-the-day beaches are Head of the Meadow on the ocean side, and Corn Hill on the bay side. Those who wish to bike or walk in do not need a to pay a fee or have a permit.

To obtain a parking permit we ask that residents bring to the Beach Office their car registration, and non residents also bring their registration and a lease or some other document which demonstrates their temporary residence in Truro. Permits are available seven days a week from 8AM to 4PM from the office located at 36 Shore Road/Route 6A next to the old North Truro post office, call with any questions at: [phone]

2012 Beach Sticker rates:

• Residents: $15/season
• Non-Residents:
  • $40 - 1 week
  • $80 - 2 weeks
  • $120 - 3 weeks
  • $160 - 4weeks
  • $175 - season
• Daily Passes (ONLY at Corn Hill or Head of the Meadow) - $10/day

Bay Side

• Corn Hill Beach, Corn Hill Rd, Great family beach with nice sunsets. Can park without permit, $10 fee.
• Fisher Road Beach, Fisher Rd.
• Great Hollow Beach, Great Hollow Rd.
• Cold Storage Beach, Off Route 6A North Truro
• 'Beach Point Landing, as it's locally known, also off 6A

Ocean Side

• Long Nook Road, Long Nook Rd. Dramatic high, sandy cliffs.
• Ballston Beach, South Pamet Rd.
• Coast Guard Beach, Coast Guard Rd.
• Head of the Meadow Beach, Head of the Meadow Rd.

Buy

• Atlantic Spice Co., 2 Shore Rd (Junction of Rts. 6 and 6a), toll-free: [phone]. M-F 9AM-5PM, Sa 9AM-4PM. North Truro. Gourmet herbs, spices, essential oils, potpourri, green tea. 

Eat

• Adrian's Restaurant, 535 Route 6, ☎ [phone]. Nice view of the bay. 
• Babe's Restaurant, 69 Shore Rd, ☎ [phone]. Mediterranean and Persian Cuisine. Features excellent Turkish shish-kebabs, Moroccan tagines, middle-eastern delicacies, etc. Simply wonderful and mouth-wateringly exotic. 
• Blacksmith Shop Restaurant, Route 6A, Truro Center, [phone]. Special.
• Harbor Lights Restaurant, Route 6A, North Truro, [phone]. Breakfast. Omelettes a specialty.
• Montano's Restaurant, ☎ [phone]. Route 6. Year round daily 4:30PM-?. This family-run restaurant is doing it right. Creative dishes with plenty of quantity. Bottomless salads served with all meals. Sauces cooked to order. Sixty different entrees. 
• Small Indulgences Cafe & Catering, 8 Highland Rd, ☎ [phone]. North Truro. Gourmet dining and catering. 
• Terra Luna, 104 Shore Rd, ☎ [phone]. Very creative cuisine without being trendy at this innovative bistro. The perfect place for a romantic dining experience. Inventive and eclectic catering is also available year-round. 
• Whitman House, ☎ [phone]. County Rd. How about a 3 pound lobster filled with scallops? Vegetarian dishes available. 

Drink

Truro Vineyards

• Truro Vineyards, ☎ [phone]. M-Sa 11AM-5PM, Su 12AM-5PM. Tours and 1PM and 3PM. Shore Rd. (Rt. 6A), North Truro. Cabernet, chardonnay, semi-dry white and blush. Home of the lighthouse bottle. 

Sleep

The town's largest concentration of cottages is in North Truro along Route 6A at "Beach Point."

• Cape Cod Beach Cottages, 314 Shore Rd. North. Truro MA Waterfront, two bedroom cottages, full kitchen, bath, porches or deck, panoramic views, on the beach 
• Cape Breeze Cottage, 314 Shore Rd. North Truro MA at Beach Point. 
• Days' Cottages, 271 Shore Rd, ☎ [phone]. (Rt 6A), North Truro. The long line of many identical white and green Days' Cottages has been a landmark and artist favorite since the 1930s. It has been run by the Days family since being built in 1931. 
• Blue Sea Motor Inn, 696 Shore Road, toll-free: [phone]. (Rte. 6A), North Truro. 
• Cape View Motel, toll-free: [phone]. Route 6, North Truro. 
• Horizons Beach Resort, toll-free: [phone]. Route 6A, North Truro. 
• East Harbour Motel & Cottages, 618 Shore Rd, ☎ [phone]. 
• Kalmar Village, 674 Shore Road, ☎ [phone]. 
• The Moorlands, 11 Hughes Road, ☎ [phone]. 7 units. B&B rooms and cottages. 
• Outer Reach Resort, ☎ [phone]. Route 6, North Truro. High on a bluff. Pet friendly. 
• Sea Gull Motel, 654 Shore Road, ☎ [phone]. (Rte 6A). 
• Sandbars on Cape Cod Bay, 570 Shore Road, toll-free: [phone]. North Truro. 

Campgrounds

• Horton's Camping Resort, 67 South Highland Road, ☎ [phone], toll-free: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 200 sites. Surrounded by the Cape Cod National Seashore. 
• North Truro Camping Area, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. Highland Road. 350 sites. Surrounded by the Cape Cod National Seashore. 
• North of Highland Camping Area, [phone]. 237 sites.

Hostel

• HI-Truro, North Pamet Road (1.5 miles east of U.S. Route 6), ☎ [phone], toll-free: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Check-in: 3PM-10PM, check-out: 11AM. 42 beds. Right in the Cape Cod National Seashore. Open mid June through early September. Dorms $29-39, privates $125-150. 

Go next

Day trips to any other Cape Cod town, particularly Provincetown.

Routes through Truro

END ← Provincetown ←

N  S

→ Wellfleet → New Bedford