Spectacle Pond in Wellfleet received its name because it sits side-by-side to a smaller pond. Together, when viewed from above, the two ponds can resemble a pair of spectacles, since they share a unique rounded shape. The name reflects the pond’s distinctive geographical features and contributes to its charm as a natural landmark in the area. Spectacle Pond is the closest to the ocean of all the Wellfleet Ponds. It is 25 feet deep and covers about 1-1/2 acres. One or two ponds?

Edmund Wilson, eminent literary critic and Wellfleet resident, writes of the Spectacle Ponds: “I had expected to find them interesting, from what I had heard, and they enchanted me when I found them, after several futile expeditions, and on me had an emotional effect…The emotional effect of this spot was due, I suppose, to some affinity that I felt between it and my life at this time—and a darkness into which I sink and a clear round single lens, well guarded and hidden away.  Many things nourished and lurking at the bottom that have not yet been brought to light.”  (A Place Apart:  A Cape Cod Reader, Robert Finch, ed.)