Project Description
About Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary
Hours: 8:30am – 5:30pm
Visitors can enjoy rugged trails that wind through 400 acres of forests, bluffs, beaches, and bogs on this spectacular property. The Sanctuary showcases the multitude of habitats and vistas that make Martha’s Vineyard a special place.
Collectively known as Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary, the property is composed of many generous donations of land. Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary exists due to the generosity and persistence of many. In the mid-1960s, Henry Beetle Hough and Allen H. Morgan, then the Executive Vice-President of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, orchestrated a fundraising campaign to buy 100 acres of land from the Daggett family. The Daggetts assisted by selling their land, now known as the Obed Sherman Daggett and Maria Roberts Daggett Sanctuary, at a price well below market value. At the same time, the Hough family donated 60 acres of abutting family land known as “Fishhook,” including over a quarter mile of shoreline.
Forty additional acres were given by Charles and Bessie Norton in memory of Alexander S. Reed, and this gift is now known as the Alexander S. Reed Bird Refuge. Georgina Stevenson donated 14 acres at the top of Norton’s Hill and her son Samme Stevenson donated another 30 acres at the bottom of the hill decades later. Elinor Moore Irvin donated over 100 acres of land, 12 of which were donated in memory of J. Percy Moore, Kathleen Carter Moore, and Marion Hamilton Carter Preserve. Many other gifts of land and of conservation restrictions have brought the size of the Sanctuary to its current 436 acres, and the conservation of land at Cedar Tree Neck continues still.
Please note: Swimming is not permitted at Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary. Dogs must be leashed at all times!
DIRECTIONS
Take State Road from Vineyard Haven and veer right onto Indian Hill Road for 1.75 miles. Turn right onto Obed Daggett Road (near the hilltop) and follow the “Sanctuary” signs. Take Obed Daggett Road 1 mile to its terminus at the Daggett Trailhead and parking area. To get to the Taylor Gate Trailhead, follow Indian Hill Road for 2 miles to the end to Norton Circle. The Taylor Gate parking area is directly ahead. To get to the Irvin Trailhead, go 1.7 miles down Indian Hill Road and the trailhead is on your right just before Obed Daggett Road.
