Clam Trees

When we travel we explore. This year the trip was close to home at Cape Cod. People visit the Cape from all over the world. The Outer Cape has become our favorite and didn't let us down this year. We went to the places we liked, Eastham, Truro and Provincetown, and "stumbled" into a new spot, Rock Harbor in Orleans.

As we strolled the beach, jetty and sand bars we noticed these strange looking trees on the sand bar. The photos I took made for some interesting and scenic images but what and why these trees are was baffling. While I was finishing them, I did Google search.

Apparently they are the famous "Clam Trees" in Rock Harbor that is on the border of Orleans and Eastham. The trees do a great job of marking the shallow shifting channel. Reflective signs are attached that how up on radar. The tree line marks the channel into the small harbor protected by the jetty and are used for navigation by the boaters.

They are called Clam Trees per a local legend that a clammer seeded the trees with clams leading to a great harvest in the 1970s. New trees are planted or driven into the sand each year as the New England winters get the best of them.