What’s New at Wildlands
Staff Picks: Where to Explore This Fall
If the arrival of September in Southeastern Massachusetts has you dreaming of brisk mornings, cozy sweaters, and leaves crunching underfoot, you’re not alone. We at Wildlands Trust are already planning our autumn hikes, paddles, rides, and picnics.
Are you looking for new places to explore this fall? Our staff and volunteers have you covered! Read on for a selection of our favorite autumnal landscapes, where you just might find us leaf peeping, migratory bird watching, or spooky story telling this season.
A note on safety: hunting season begins in the fall, so please take care to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your pets while on the trails. Consult our hunting safety guidelines before you head out. (Spoiler alert: wear blaze orange!)
Happy fall from all of us at Wildlands! Please share your fall nature photos with us at communications@wildlandstrust.org. Explore our trails across Southeastern Massachusetts at wildlandstrust.org/trails.
Hoyt-Hall Preserve, Marshfield
Photo by Jerry Monkman.
Trail map & property description: click here.
Rachel Bruce, Chief of Staff: The many deciduous trees show off their fall colors around Long Tom Pond, and a two-mile hike is perfect for a fall afternoon.
Tess Goldmann, Land Protection Assistant: I really enjoy Hoyt-Hall for its beautiful views of Long Tom Pond and its variety of different ecosystems you get to walk through. Plus, you can see all the red maples changing colors in October.
Great River Preserve, Bridgewater
Photo by Jerry Monkman.
Trail map & property description: click here.
Marilynn Atterbury, Key Volunteer: As the leaves begin to turn, there’s no place I’d rather be than Great River Preserve. In the fall, the landscape transforms into a landscape of color. The meadows are dotted with Joe-Pye weed, jewel plants, and goldenrod, creating a stunning display. The meadows also become a haven for monarch butterflies, which lay their eggs on the milkweed that thrives there. Meanwhile, the maples and oaks along the Taunton River put on a breathtaking show of scarlet and gold. It’s this vibrant tapestry of nature that makes Great River Preserve my favorite fall destination.
Scott MacFaden, Director of Land Protection: The Great River Preserve is a fall favorite of mine. While it shines at any time of year, it is particularly luminous in autumn because of its juxtaposition of open fields, woods, and the Taunton River. I like to leisurely hike along the edge of the fields before spending some time at the viewing platform overlooking the river—one of the most peaceful and contemplative locations in all of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Indian Head River Trail – Pembroke, Hanover, Hanson
Photo by Andrew Lederman.
Trail map & property description: click here.
Amy Burt, Programming Coordinator: My favorite preserve is the Indian Head River Trail, a four-mile loop that encompasses Wildlands' Tucker Preserve. This time of year, you can get a great view of the river with the leaves falling while walking down a cathedral of color. Year-round, I enjoy channeling my inner goat and climbing the rocks.
Great Neck Conservation Area, Wareham
Photo by Rob MacDonald.
Trail map & property description: click here.
Skip Stuck, Key Volunteer: I like Great Neck because it has a little of everything. Uplands, ocean, marshlands, a pond full of waterfowl in the fall, and vernal pools surrounded by red swamp maples.
Kyla Isakson, Membership Manager: I love the diversity of the landscapes at Great Neck. You get a little bit of everything: ponds, farmland, pine forests, and ocean views. An underrated showcase preserve that is great year-round.
Wyman North Fork Conservation Area, Bridgewater
Photo by Rob MacDonald.
Trail map & property description: click here.
Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator: As one of our newest public preserves, Wyman North Fork Conservation Area (a partnership between Wildlands and the Town of Bridgewater) remains a hidden gem… for now. This fall, visitors will hear bluebirds and goldfinches rustling in the meadow’s native grasses and gaze at the secluded woodlands’ vibrant foliage, hanging from the branches and reflecting off the glassy surface of the Taunton River.
Human History of Wildlands: Great Neck Conservation Area
Key Volunteer Skip Stuck guides volunteers through Great Neck Conservation Area during a January 2024 trail work day.
By Skip Stuck, Key Volunteer
In 2016, as a new Adopt-a-Preserve volunteer, I was introduced to Great Neck Conservation Area by Wildlands’ Director of Field Operations, Erik Boyer. I was immediately struck by the diversity and beauty of the place. But shortly after beginning our walk-through, we got lost, something we continued to do for the rest of the day. Even though Wildlands had owned the property for over 40 years, little had been done to develop a navigable trail system. Sure, there were trails, but a spaghetti hodgepodge of them. Neighbors had created many trails beginning at their property lines and ending God-knows-where. These trails ran up driveways, across private land, and within eyesight of homes and backyards.
It was quite a jigsaw puzzle. We contacted the New England Forestry Foundation and received permission to link our trails through their property. With Erik’s permission and support from neighbors (thank you, Butch!), we set out to remap the preserve, closing some trails and opening others to create a course that would allow visitors to enjoy all that Great Neck had to offer. Through trial by fire, I learned how to build and maintain eco-conscious trails. Several months and a lot of work later, the puzzle came together, and as access to its beauty opened, Great Neck came alive for me.
We hope it does for you, too.
One quick note: because Great Neck Conservation Area comprises several historically independent parcels, distilling the area’s disjointed recent history into a unified narrative proved difficult. Many more stories could be told than you will find here. If you or someone you know has information about Great Neck’s past, we would love to hear from you! Share your insight (and/or photos!) by emailing Communications Coordinator Thomas Patti at tpatti@wildlandstrust.org.
Native American Era
Glacial history is carved into the landscape of the Great Neck (AKA Indian Neck) region of Wareham. Drumlins, kettle ponds, glacial rocks, and sandy shoreline all had something to offer to Native Americans, who utilized the area's resources for thousands of years. The many arrowheads, tomahawks, and other artifacts found here attest to its popularity among Native peoples. The conservation area’s inlets, the Crooked River from the north and Mink Cove from the south, were used for shellfishing and fish weirs. The forested hillsides were used for hunting, and lowlands for farming.
In the early 1600s, the area was inhabited by the Nepinnae Ketit band, known to the English settlers as the Agawam Indians.
Colonial Era
The original sitting room in the 1683 Burgess House. By Bill Whelan for Wareham Week.
The English began to settle this area in the 1630s. In 1666, the Plymouth Colony bought an 8,000-acre tract of land known as the Agawam Purchase from the Native Americans. In 1682, Plymouth sold the property to seven settlers in the area that would become Wareham.
Some of Wareham's earliest English settlements were on Great Neck, including the Burgess House (circa 1680), the oldest house in Wareham.
1700s
English settlers cleared much of the land for agriculture, with the lowlands devoted to vegetables and the rocky glacial uplands converted to pastures for cattle and sheep. Swamps and bogs were logged for the stands of valuable white cedar trees that grew there. Salt hay was an important resource from the surrounding marshes. Iron and charcoal were mined from bogs and woodlands, all to be smelted in the several local mills.
1800s
The Crooked River that flowed through the property was dammed in at least two places, creating a tidal area, a freshwater marsh (Jack's Marsh) that was ultimately converted to a cranberry bog, and a freshwater pond (Swan Pond) to irrigate the bog.
In the later 19th century, though cranberries continued to be grown, the early English settlement began to give way to a summer community. In 1880, the Weld and Minot families began to acquire smaller parcels in the area.
1900s
By 1900, the Welds and Minots owned most of the property on Great Neck. Among other things, they developed their own golf course, now known as Little Harbor Golf Course, one of the first in the country.
In 1909, the independently owned cranberry bogs were consolidated to become the United Cranberry Company.
In 1920, parts of the Weld and Minot land were planted with red pine and Norway spruce in hopes of selling the timber. The red pine eventually died due to a root virus. However, the spruce did well and still grows wild on Great Neck.
Great Neck Conservation Area
In 1969, Grace Minot Peirce and John Wylde donated 53 acres of the property to The Nature Conservancy on the condition that they would only hold it until a local conservation group could assume responsibility. In 1975, the land was deeded to Wildlands Trust. The Saltonstall family donated their ~60-acre property northwest of Mink Cove to the New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF).
In 1979, Wildlands also took ownership of the 26-acre Mink Cove-Elkins property.
In the 1990s, NEFF approved Wildlands’ plans to build hiking trails through their property, thus completing a 4-mile trail system and linking all the properties.
Learn more:
To learn more about Great Neck’s human history, visit our conservation area to find evidence for yourself of its Indigenous, colonial, and agricultural past. Also, explore the resources we consulted for this piece:
Visit wildlandstrust.org/events to find a schedule of group hikes and volunteer opportunities at Great Neck and other Wildlands Trust preserves.
Read our property description: wildlandstrust.org/great-neck-conservation-area
"History of Wareham.” Town of Wareham website.
"A Resource Inventory and Management Plan for the Minot-Weld Conservancy and the Mink Cove-Elkins Reservation." Caroline Norden, Wildlands Trust, 1986.
“The Welds of Harvard Yard: History Through a Family Lens.” Craig Lambert in Harvard Magazine, 1998.
Wildlands Shows Its Love for Wareham at Community Event
Read Time: 2 min
By Amy Markarian, Senior Copywriter
The coastal town of Wareham, home to Wildlands’ Great Neck Conservation Area, offers an array of outdoor recreational opportunities for both residents and visitors. So, when Wildlands Trust was invited to partner with the Wareham Land Trust, Mass Audubon, and Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Onset Bay Center to host a full day of free outdoor activities highlighting the area’s various opportunities to enjoy nature and support the environment, we were thrilled to accept!
Funded in part by grants from the Wareham Cultural Council and Plymouth Cultural Council (two local agencies supported by the State's Mass Cultural Council), “Wild for Wareham” took place on May 7, at Buzzard’s Bay Coalition’s Onset Bay Center.
Wildlands’ Programming and Outreach Manager, Claire Johnston, collaborated with staff from the event’s partner organizations, planning a day packed with activities. Among the offerings were: an intertidal beach exploration; programs about navigation, whales, insects, osprey, and coastal waterbirds; a salt marsh exploration; and a kayaking adventure. Wildlands hosted two programs at Great Neck Conservation Area—an invasive plant identification and removal workshop, and a nature weaving exploration activity. Participants brought home potted native plants, a children’s book, and assorted fun swag from the various organizations tabling at the event.
The depth and variety of knowledge within the Wareham community--in the fields of land protection, wildlife conservation, and environmental protection--was on full display at the Wild for Wareham event, and the opportunities for interesting outdoor explorations were plentiful! Wildlands Trust was thrilled to be a partner in this event, and hope that it was the first of many to come!
Eagle Scout Project Benefits Wildlands' Great Neck Conservation Area
By Amy Markarian, Senior Copywriter
Local Eagle Scout Ethan Nardone and his team of volunteers, along with the Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod chapters of the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) installed an impressive 240 feet of bog boards at Great Neck Preserve, in Wareham this month! This 24-inch wide wooden “bridge” is designed to accommodate both hiking and mountain biking. It allows trail users to avoid mud and standing water, and limits the impact of pedestrian and bike traffic on the trail and surrounding environment.
Nardone planned the workday for his Eagle Scout Service Project, recruiting volunteers and fundraising for the project. NEMBA’s generous contributions provided both financial and physical support. In coordination with Wildlands’ Director of Stewardship, Erik Boyer, Nardone’s friends and family, biking team members from a local school, members of both NEMBA chapters, and Wildlands staff and volunteers spent the day carrying lumber and tools onto the trail, then assembling the bog boards on site.
The new bog boards are a fantastic addition to the trail at Great Neck Preserve, and Wildlands is grateful to benefit from this outstanding collaboration!
Photo credit: SEMass NEMBA Chapter President, Tommy Walker
SPOTLIGHT ON STEWARDSHIP
Thank you Volunteers!
We had some great Trailblazer days in January, helping clear trees and remove trash from the Great Neck Conservation Area in Wareham and the Tucker Preserve in Pembroke. Despite some cold weather both mornings, we had a great turn out of dedicated volunteers. Thank you!
