Get to know Truro with this in-depth look at the Cape Cod town

Emily Datillo and Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll
Updated ·6 min read

To go to Truro, you largely have to want to get there. At the narrow, east end of the Cape Cod peninsula, surrounded by ocean, the quiet town isn’t on the way to anywhere but Provincetown at the farthest tip.

Although Truro only has about 2,000 full-time residents, it has plenty of walking trails and beaches. And besides the plentiful scenery, Truro has also experienced a resurgence of farming through programs such as Sustainable Cape, which includes farmers markets, fairs, school programs and more.

The town is also an arts enclave, including the concerts and shows at Payomet Performing Arts Center and the hub of programs and artist residencies at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Here’s more to know about this town:

A look at Great Hollow Beach in Truro.
A look at Great Hollow Beach in Truro.

Beaches to enjoy

On the bay side, check out Great Hollow Beach (Great Hollow Road), where visitors enjoy swimming and kayaking. Ballston Beach on North Pamet Road is a big Atlantic beach with colder water and the surf can run high, so swimming conditions can be a challenge.

And Truro has a Coast Guard Beach (on Coast Guard Road), which is not be confused with the Eastham beach with the same name. The Truro one is arguably the most remote beach on Cape Cod, with cold water and challenging surf.

What's the best beach?: Cape Cod Beach Guide 2022

Places to visit

The Payomet Performing Arts Center (29 Old Dewline Road, North Truro) is back to a full summer of concerts under its tent, as well as circus shows and classes. More information, ticket prices and other events can be found on its website: https://payomet.org/events

The Highland House Museum is set up by the Truro Historical Society in what once was the Highland House resort hotel, built in 1907 to accommodate visitors drawn to the Cape by the extension of the railroad and the praise for the area from Henry David Thoreau. The museum, close to Highland Light, has gone through a restoration and offers a variety of historical and art exhibits and events. Information: https://trurohistoricalsociety.org/highlandhouse/

Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro hosts concerts and other events in giant tents on a former Air Force base.
Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro hosts concerts and other events in giant tents on a former Air Force base.

Where to eat

Restaurants in town include BlackFish, described as a New American restaurant with a focus on local that serves seafood, high-end burgers and more in a brick-walled location that used to be a blacksmith shop (17 Truro Center Road). A recent special: Pan roasted squid, with baby butter beans, vadouvan curry and Down Home Farms leeks. https://www.blackfishtruro.com/

Or in North Truro, there’s Montano’s (416 Route 6), an Italian restaurant in town since 1988 that describes its fare as “cuisine that’s made from scratch the old-fashioned way. With pasta that’s crafted in-house and cooked to order, homemade sauces, and pizza dough that’s made fresh daily”; https://montanos.com/. Savory & the Sweet Escape (316 Route 6) can be more of a quick stop, with ice cream, coffee, pizza, sandwiches, pastries, breakfast and salads. https://www.facebook.com/savoryandsweetescape.

Spots with a view

In the Cape Cod National Seashore, the overlooks at Bearberry Hill provide panoramic views of the Pamet landscape including Ballston Beach.

You can eat any meal of the day with a view at Top Mast Cafe at 209 Shore Road (Route 6A), North Truro — which is near the beach. Breakfast options include cinnamon rolls or cranberry orange scones or benedicts. Lunch options include cheese steak, a BLT or chicken salad. The dinner menu offers broiled salmon or scallops, boneless beef short ribs, sandwiches and pasta with carrot cake and lemon tart among dessert options.

Where's your next meal?: Where should you eat on Cape Cod? Ultimate food and drink guide

Looking for a treat?

Chequessett Chocolate (8 Highland Road, North Truro) is known for its Cape Cod craft chocolate, with bars named after Cape locales, plus chocolate barks and chocolate-covered apricots. The High Tide Kitchen offers ice cream and smoothies. https://www.chequessettchocolate.com/

Love the arts?

The Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill (10 Meetinghouse Road, Truro) is celebrating its 50th anniversary, which includes a sculpture garden exhibit for the rest of the year and concerts and other events on its new outdoor stage. The center offers a wide variety of shows, classes and workshops in many types of visual arts, plus has artist residencies. More information: https://www.castlehill.org/

When you drive in to Truro Center for the Arts at Castle HIll, there's a 100-foot Sea Monster that's part of a 50th anniversary sculpture garden that artist Justin Cifello made out of invasive plants he grew for the project.
When you drive in to Truro Center for the Arts at Castle HIll, there's a 100-foot Sea Monster that's part of a 50th anniversary sculpture garden that artist Justin Cifello made out of invasive plants he grew for the project.

What you might not know

Artist Edward Hopper had a home in Truro for decades and regularly painted scenes there.

Places to hike or bike

Check out Pamet Area Trails (111 North Pamet Road) and enjoy Atlantic Ocean scenery, plus a boghouse from past commercial cranberry harvesting.

Take the Pilgrim Spring Trail (Route 6, Truro) — part of the Cape Cod National Seashore — and delve into pine and oak forests while discovering the place where the Pilgrims tasted fresh water for the first time in New England.

The rising Hunter's Moon dances a tango with Highland Light in Truro.
The rising Hunter's Moon dances a tango with Highland Light in Truro.

Fun facts from the past

Highland Light was the first lighthouse built on the Cape, constructed in 1797.

The Highlands Center (where Payomet Performing Arts Center is located on Old Dewline Road) is now part of the federally run Cape Cod National Seashore and is the former site of the North Truro Air Force Station. That was a base used from World War II (for artillery training) to 1985. During the Cold War, the base was seen as an early line of defense, with radar there positioned to scan the airspace around the Cape and to detect Soviet bombers moving across the Arctic Circle.

Highland Light keeps watch on a past golfer at Highland Links Golf Course.
Highland Light keeps watch on a past golfer at Highland Links Golf Course.

Into sports?

Golfers can check out Highland Links golf course (10 Highland Light Road, Truro), which offers views of Highland Light and the ocean, and is part of the Truro Highlands Historic District. It bills itself as “one of Cape Cod’s oldest golf courses, perhaps its most scenic,” with a history back to the 1890s and an emphasis on the Scottish links tradition, including deep natural rough, Scotch broom and heath.

Where to see a sunset

Corn Hill Beach (Corn Hill Road, Truro)

Where to shop

Jams Grocery and Deli (14 Truro Center Road, Truro) is a stop for baked goods (including giant cinnamon rolls), sandwiches for breakfast or later in the day, local goods, fruit, souvenirs and more. For gifts or your own piece of the Cape, there’s Jobi Pottery Gallery that carries on a more than 60-year tradition of hand-crafted and hand-painted pottery plus offers other types of local art (including jewelry, prints and furniture) in its gallery. https://jobipottery.com/

Also consider checking out Atlantic Spice Co. (2 Shore Road, N. Truro) for a selection of more than 250 types of spices, teas, extracts, essential oils, herbs and more. The shop's in-house and online inventory also includes gourmet food items; houseware and tabletop items; kitchen gadgets and cookbooks. For a full list: https://www.atlanticspice.com/.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod towns: Truro's top things to see, do, shopping, restaurants