Old King's Highway · MA-6A

The Old King's Highway, MA-6A along the Cape Cod Bay side: from Sandwich to Orleans through Barnstable, Yarmouth Port, Dennis and Brewster, among captains' houses, salt marshes and old general stores. It's 31 easy miles from village to village. Stop in Brewster or finish in Orleans. It's best in June or in September and October, away from summer traffic, and the Sagamore Bridge has periodic lane closures through 2027.

MA-6A follows the old road along the bay side of Cape Cod, and from Sandwich to Orleans it runs through the Old King's Highway Regional Historic District, created in 1973 and described by its towns as the largest historic district in the country; in 2021 the road was named a National Scenic Byway. Sandwich, where the route starts, was settled in 1637 and incorporated in 1639, and it shares with Yarmouth the title of oldest town on the Cape. Through Barnstable and Yarmouth Port the road passes salt marshes, white churches and old houses, and in Barnstable its whole length is on the National Register.

Brewster was known as the town of sea captains, and many of their houses still line 6A. The Brewster Store was built in 1852 as a Universalist church and became a general store in 1866, when William W. Knowles bought it for one dollar and took down the steeple. Just west, the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History has a boardwalk across the marsh toward the bay. The Sagamore Bridge, the usual way onto the Cape, has periodic lane closures for testing work until 2027, with at least one lane open, so allow extra time.