The Shining Sea Bikeway is a rail trail in Falmouth, MA, in the north-east United States. The path runs for over ten miles (16 km), including nearly a mile along Surf Drive Beach on Vineyard Sound. It runs past several public parking areas, including parking for the Wood's Hole Ferry. It makes up the southern portion of the Plymouth and Vineyard Sound Railroad, which was later absorbed by the Cape Cod Central Railroad.
The creation of the trail began in 1977, when the Town of Falmouth purchased the Woods Hole portion of the rail line from the defunct Penn Central for $329,000.[1] In early 2009, the town of Falmouth completed the extension of the trail northward an additional eight miles (13 km) along the abandoned rail line, to a total of 10.7 miles (17.2 km), terminating at County Road, North Falmouth, close to the adjacent town of Bourne.[2] Rail service south of North Falmouth ceased in 1989 but the northernmost half mile of the Bikeway runs adjacent to track that continues to be used to haul trash from the western portion of Cape Cod, which is collected at the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station on the grounds of the Massachusetts Military Reservation.
The northern half of the Bikeway is particularly beautiful, running through extensive salt marsh, cranberry bog, and farmland in use since the 18th century. It also features tunnels constructed by the railroad to permit cattle to reach pasturage on the other side of the tracks.