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Highlight Hiker Blog
Mill Pond, Orleans, Massachusetts
August 16, 2020
While this trail not the official Orleans Conservation Trust Mill Pond trail, there is a walking path that travels around Mill Pond to Priscilla Beach in Orleans, Massachusetts. I only walked it because I’m a temporary resident of the area and so I’m allowed to do so. When we arrived, Tropical Storm Josephine was sweeping through the area, so we laid low until the rain eased up. But a little bit of rain and wind never stopped me from walking, and so I walked. Please note that there is an exact Mill Pond trail mapped out by the OCT, and I’ll explore that a later, but at this time, walking along the perimeter of Mill Pond was something I needed to settle myself in and get familiar with the new digs.
We’ve been vacationing on Cape Cod for the last eight years and always in Orleans. The size of the town, the conveniences of daily family life, the proximity to Nauset and Skaket beaches and all the hiking trails make it the perfect place for some R&R for my family. When we first visited The Olden Golden was not to so Olden and he has enjoyed all of the trails with me: the short and the long… as long as dogs are allowed, that is. But that was all before I started a blog! So now that I’m here, and you’re here, and the trails are open….? we’ll re-explore them together so that you can see what this incredible area is like; what makes it so unique. Let’s be honest: this is not expansive mountainous back country, but the Cape has an unmatched grace and splendor. It’s absolutely gorgeous…. and it smells freakin’ fantastic of pine and sea salt air. You’ll love it. It’s gentle and passive, filled with American history and the energy of a constant youthful summer.
Cape Cod is for a place for everyone. Especially hikers who want easy, beautiful, historic terrain with a calming atmosphere and long, golden days with endless vistas of water, sun and sand.
The dock for the neighborhood we're temporarily residing in on Mill Pond.
Tropical Storm Josephine looked ominous, but she was quite mild.
The path was mostly hard pack sand and rock amid tall reeds, although due to the storm, some parts were very wet and squishy. Put it this way: my sneakers are still drying out.
Mill Pond used to be a hot spot for flounder fishing in the 1970's, so I'm told.
Along the way I found an old lifeboat from a large ship that had washed ashore, and there were so all kinds of trinkets from the sea washed up on the shore.
Two swans have taken residence in the shelter of Mill Pond.
Eat your heart out, Edward Hopper.
There was a "No Trespassing" sign on this wooden dock, but that doesn't mean I can't photograph it!
The greenery above the rock wall was alive with birds. I tried to take a video of it for you, but The Dog kept walking back and forth, and the movement of the leash made the camera shake too much. I'll try again another day.
There are a number of public places to put in as you get closer to Priscilla Beach.
Later in the day, I walked in the opposite direction around Mill Pond. The lavender grows wild everywhere.
On the western edge of the pond, you'll find more flowers.
From the western edge... where my shoes got saturated.
The trees are higher on the sheltered western edge of the pond.
Here's a quiet spot on the western edge where the wind and erosion are not as exaggerated.
The trail curves around the western-most portion of Mill Pond, and it shifts from slogging, wet terrain back to sandy trail. In the constant thick drizzle of the storm, the trail was slippery and muddy for quite some time.
Cresting the edge of Mill Pond, the trail widens and loops around a peninsula of private property.
Perpetual tide pools sunk within the salt marsh of Mill Pond.
Rain drops in the tide pools.
The high cordgrass thrive on habitat of Mill Pond.