Though major rehabilitation will close the Highland Light at Cape Cod National Seashore to the public, since the on-site work isn't expected to begin until late summer, the lighthouse will be open for tours from April through much of the summer, according to seashore Superintendent Brian Carlstrom.

The entire Red Maple Swamp Trail in Eastham, Massachusetts, has reopened following a collaborative rehabilitation project between Cape Cod National Seashore and Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The trail, which was closed since 2010, is a 1.5-mile-long walking trail connecting the Fort Hill and Hemenway Landing areas.

Remnants of the past, of poets and artists who sought the stark inspiration offered by isolating, windswept dunes on the outer beaches of Cape Cod, stand weathered gray. Some appear wobbly and are almost hidden by their embracing dunes, while others stand atop the hills of sand with sweeping views out into the Atlantic.

What could a 60-year-old national park on the sandy shores of Cape Cod and a newly established national monument in the remote woods of interior Maine have in common? The differences between the two are apparent, yet there are similarities linking these two jewels of the National Park System that have their roots in New England’s natural, historic, and literary heritage, as memorialized by the famed naturalist and writer, Henry David Thoreau.