Journey of the Mayflower

Located at Coast Guard Beach, Eastham

After 66 days spent in the cramped confines of a small ship pitching and rolling its way from England across the stormy North Atlantic, the Mayflower’s passengers gave thanks. It was the morning of November 9, 1620 and they had spotted land — the sand cliffs of Outer Cape Cod.

The Pilgrims intended to settle near the Hudson River, so Captain Christopher Jones brought the Mayflower around and set a course due south along the coast. But dangerously shallow waters at the elbow of the Cape forced the ship to turn back north.

They anchored in the protected waters of what is now Provincetown Harbor and paused to plan next steps. Here on Cape Cod the Pilgrims wrote the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of Plymouth Colony, and went ashore to find food and water. Here, they first glimpsed the Wampanoag People who already called this land home. And here, one journey ended and another began.

TEXT © NATIONAL PARK SERVICE