New Individual and Family memberships now just $35. Start your membership > Join today and get outside at one of our 60+ wildlife sanctuaries. New Individual and Family memberships are just $35! Start your membership
New Individual and Family memberships now just $35. Start your membership > Join today and get outside at one of our 60+ wildlife sanctuaries. New Individual and Family memberships are just $35! Start your membership
boardwalk trail through a grassy meadow
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellfleet

Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

  • South Wellfleet
  • 1183 Acres

Plan Your Visit

Wellfleet Bay provides peace and unmatched beauty on the hillsides and shoreline overlooking Wellfleet Harbor. Extensive trails bring you to a panoramic salt marsh, sandy barrier beach, and pine woodlands, each attracting a wide array of wildlife.

Directions to Wellfleet Bay
Hours
Nature Center
  • Tuesday-Sunday
  • 9:00 am-4:00 pm
Trails
  • Daily
  • dawn to dusk
  • 5 miles
  • 0.5 universally accessible miles
See Trail Maps

Connect with Wellfleet Bay

Property Regulations

  • Foot travel only; please stay on trails (day passes are available for powered mobility devices)
  • Dog walking and horseback riding are prohibited; please leave all animals and pets at home (service animals welcome)
  • Collecting, swimming, wading, smoking, hunting, fishing, releasing of animals, and feeding wildlife is prohibited.
  • Commercial photography needs prior approval; please see all photography guidelines.

Facilities

  • Parking
    Parking
  • Electric Vehicle Charging Station
    Electric Vehicle Charging Station
  • Trail, Universally Accessible
    Trail, Universally Accessible
  • Nature Center/Museum, Universally Accessible
    Nature Center/Museum, Universally Accessible
  • Restrooms, Universally Accessible
    Restrooms, Universally Accessible
  • Camping
    Camping
  • Picnic Tables
    Picnic Tables

Featured Experiences

  • Cape Cod Field Schools

    Wellfleet Bay offers a wide variety of field courses for adults that focus on the unique coastal environment and wildlife of Cape Cod.

  • campground with two tents in the distance
    Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Campground

    Camping at Wellfleet Bay

    Camping at Wellfleet Bay offers the natural world of the sanctuary for exploration and enjoyment.

  • Wellfleet Bay campers exploring a salt marsh with their counselor

    Family Fun at Wellfleet Bay

    Have fun with the whole family at Wellfleet Bay, either on your own or during an organized program.


     

  • Handful of Diamondback Terrapin hatchlings © Terri Munson
    Diamondback Terrapin hatchlings © Terri Munson

    Conservation Projects at Wellfleet Bay

    Wellfleet Bay is actively involved with a variety of projects including protecting sea turtles, diamondback terrapins, horseshoe crabs, and more.

Latest News

More News
Box Turtle 63 in good health in August
© Tim O’Brien
News November 20, 2023

Routine Eastern Box Turtle Monitoring Saves an Old Friend

Keep Reading
Diamondback terrapin hatchling being held in a hand
© Andrea Spence
News September 26, 2023

Outer Cape Concludes Busy Diamondback Terrapin Nesting Season

Keep Reading
Boats in Wellfleet Harbor at low tide
© Bill Galvin
Special Event September 20, 2023

2023 State of Wellfleet Harbor Conference

Event Date: Saturday, November 4

Keep Reading

Upcoming Programs

See More

Sanctuary History

If you were here 150 years ago, you’d be in the middle of asparagus and turnip farms, open fields and salt hay meadows. Dairy cows grazed nearby. 

Learn More

Get Involved

You can contribute to Wellfleet Bay's conservation projects from rescuing stranded sea turtles to monitoring Diamondback Terrapins.

Find Out How

Explore Wellfleet Bay

  • View out to ocean at WB © Lauren Fenn
    © Lauren Fenn
  • up close of a fiddler crab with claw in air
    Fiddler Crab © Maceo Susi
  • boy walking across boardwalk over flooded marsh
    Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellfleet
  • trail through forest at Wellfleet Bay
    Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellfeet © Elizabeth Attardi
  • garden with sign that says butterfly and hummingbird garden with nature center in background
    Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellfleet