Location: Brewster
Top Things to do in Brewster
Top 10 Things to do in Brewster, United States
Brewster /ˈbruːstər/ is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 9,820 at the 2010 census.
Restaurants in Brewster
1. Nickerson State Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 239 reviews
Reviewed By Taylor B - Chicago, Illinois
Locals know all about Nickerson State Park. So they are reluctant to tell out-of-towners about it. But their secret is out. This state-owned, public recreation area covering more than 1,900 acres on in Brewster, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, is a popular go-to destination for families that love to indulge in hiking, biking, camping, fishing and swimming. The park offers more than 400 campsites, including cabins, eight miles of trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, horseback riding and mountain bike riding, an eight-mile set of bicycle trails that connect to the Cape Cod Rail Trail, fishing on four ponds that are stocked yearly with trout, a boat ramp, lakes for canoeing and kayaking and swimming, showers, interpretative programs, an amphitheater, restrooms, picnicking facilities and wheelchair-accessible beaches. Who needs tennis or golf? The park once was part of the estate of Samuel Mayo Nickerson, an area native and Chicago liquor distiller who made a fortune as one of the founding officers of the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1934, Nickerson's daughter-in-law donated that portion of the estate as a "state forest park." It became Massachusetts' first state park.
2. Skaket Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 343 reviews
Reviewed By TheMitt - Orlanda fl
Wonderful beach to swim if you prefer the mild waves of the bay. Paved parking, daily fee on season. Bathroom facilities.
Small sandy beach, west facing for beautiful sunsets. Sadly, like many bay beaches, grass is fast encroaching on the available beach area, so the future is in question.
3. Chatham Marconi Maritime Center
Overall Ratings
5 based on 127 reviews
Museum, Education, Lectures, and more! Founded in 2002, the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center sits on the 11.3-acre, 10-building campus which comprised the former Marconi/RCA Wireless Receiving Station, once the busiest ship-to-shore station on the East Coast and a significant military installation (during World War II). The Operations Building now houses the Marconi/RCA Wireless Museum offering interactive exhibits tracing the story of wireless communication in Chatham from its formative days with Marconi, through the 20th Century. The recently renovated campus residence, also once known as the Hotel Nautilus, is the Education Center with additional space for administrative offices, classes, and lectures. CMMC began working on STEM classes in 2008 and launched a major education initiative in 2011 when it partnered with the Public Schools of Chatham and Harwich, MA (now the Monomoy Regional School District), and the MIT Club of Cape Cod to develop curriculum and teacher training materials in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The specific focus of the program is on the subject areas of Communications Engineering and Design. These fields are two of the subtopics in the MA Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Frameworks. They also coincide with the mission of CMMC and our emphasis on wireless communications. Finally, we live in the "information age." Innovations are occurring on a daily basis and the products that reach the marketplace are having a profound effect upon society. Our implementation plan includes active roles for both professionals and volunteers in K-12 classrooms throughout Cape Cod. We also offer a wide array of classes and workshops in the summer, a winter science camp, after school programs, and professional development for teachers. To see a complete list of our courses and a preview of our museum offerings, visit our website.
Reviewed By John g - Seattle, Washington
This small but informative museum is packed with a number of displays of historical events in the early history of radio telegraphy in the 20th century all tied in to the Cape Cod and Chatham area. The museum personnel were very helpful and friendly as well. a lot of hands on aspects to the displays.
4. Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 244 reviews
The mission of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History is to inspire appreciation, understanding and stewardship of our natural environment through discovery and learning. The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History integrates the three strands of its organizational identity - as museum of natural history, nature education center, and steward of conservation land. As a small museum of natural history, we will preserve, exhibit, and interpret our own collections of natural history artifacts and display relevant traveling and loan exhibits. We may also collaborate with local and regional organizations on co-sponsored exhibits. As a nature education center, we will engage children and adults in high-quality programs, classes, lectures, panel discussions, workshops, films, walks, field trips, traditions and interactive exhibits that reveal the many facets of the natural world and the reciprocal impacts that humans and nature exert on each other. As befits a nature education center, we will explore our potential as a center for citizen scientists and amateur naturalists, and as a forum for informed discussion of important issues related to the natural world, especially on Cape Cod. As a steward of 400-plus acres of museum-owned land in Stony Brook Valley and Brewster conservation land adjacent to the museum, including Wing's Island, the salt marsh, and the beach along Cape Cod Bay between Quivett and Paine's Creeks, we will monitor and protect the land and focus our programming on its varied habitats - our outdoor classroom and teaching tool. Programs may also take place elsewhere on Cape Cod and in New England when appropriate.
Reviewed By Taylor B - Chicago, Illinois
The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History consists of a 17,000-square-foot main building with exhibit and office space and an additional 400 acres of town and conservation land that covers a wide range of habitats, including pitch pine woodlands, salt marshes, a barrier beach, beech forests, walking trails and a small river, Stony Brook, which functions as a herring run during the spring. The museum, which was established in 1954, constructed its first permanent building, now the Summer Pavilion, in 1960, then finally dedicated its current museum space in 1968 at 869 Main Street on Route 6A in Brewster, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. The museum focuses on local natural history and archeology and includes a small aquarium featuring over 80 different species of local freshwater and saltwater marine life, a butterfly house, several beehives, a collection of taxidermied birds and a collection of wooden birds carver by Eldridge Arnold. The museum's Marshview Room provides a view over conservation lands with binoculars for birdwatching and a monitor displaying a livestream of the osprey next in the marsh. The Stony Brook Valley has been inhabited for 10,000 years and the museum's archeological exhibit offers information about the area's settlement by indigenous people such as the Wampanoags, the subsequent arrival of English settlers in the 17th century and the rise of industry in the 19th century. One of the museum's most interesting and unique exhibits, a special delight for kids, is a 44-foot inflatable humpback whale and a walk-through inflatable what that is used to teach visitors about whales.
5. Corporation Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 149 reviews
Reviewed By Bob C - Albany, New York
This is one of our favorite beaches on the Cape. It is usually crowded however there always is room amongst the crowd to set up a chair or two. The snack bar at the beach serves excellent food. It is near where we stay so it is accessible for us. I appreciate you can drop off your beach items in the parking lot and then walk back to the beach from our Inn. We came one nigh around dusk to see the full moon. At this time you can park in the parking lot closest to the beach without cost.
6. Chatham Lighthouse Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 358 reviews
Reviewed By Nomad0921 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Visited at the end of the summer - what a beautiful venue! The beach is almost completely protected by sand bars making the waves benign. The down sides include the heavy private boat traffic and the danger of sharks due to the large population of seals in the area. There was a shark warning sign prominently displayed on the beavh. That said, it's a beautiful beach thst is well worth visiting with family and friends and a good dose of caution and awareness.
7. Fort Hill Rural Historic District
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 128 reviews
A scenic and historic walking trail managed by the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Reviewed By Bob M
Fort Hill is a perfect place for a long and leisurely walk with wonderful ocean and marsh scenery everywhere you look. The walking paths wind up, down and across meadows that slope down from the Hill towards the marshes And the bay, with the National Seashore dunes in the distance. A wonderful place for a picnic, or for an artist or photographer.
8. Crosby Landing Beach
9. Paine's Creek
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 74 reviews
This peaceful and scenic inlet has been photographed many times for promotional pieces and postcards featuring Cape Cod.
Reviewed By KMR96 - Springfield, Massachusetts
Decided to spend our evening checking out the sunset at Paine's Creek. As other reviewers have said, the parking is very limited. We arrive about an hour before sunset and had no problem finding a spot, but when we left, cars were piled on top of each other and being turned away. We explored the salt marsh and sat enjoying the view. The sunset was beautiful. I can imagine that during the day the river is fun to float in. There was a tractor and hay wagon pulling kids along for a ride (for a fee) there when we stopped. And there were some porta potties, but no water or anything else.
10. Stony Brook Grist Mill and Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 65 reviews
Reviewed By Mick837 - Burlington
First, a disclaimer. We didn't visit the museum (it was closed). We primarily went there to walk a bit and take some pictures. Well, it's important to know that this is not a working mill; there is no water turning the wheel. There is a stream nearby and fairly heavy growth along a pathway so there really wasn't much to meet our interests. But if you just need some time out of the car to stretch your legs, this is a nice place to do that.
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