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A sandy path through the dune grass to a stony beach, low land along the far horizon. At Cedar Tree Neck swimming is not allowed; people come for the walk and the view.
Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary: about 400 acres of bluffs, forest trails, and rocky shoreline in West Tisbury. Free admission, open year-round.
Cedar Tree Neck is one of Martha's Vineyard's most varied sanctuaries: about 400 acres of glacial bluffs, freshwater ponds, wind-sculpted forest and rocky Vineyard Sound shoreline, all free and open to the public year-round. This north-shore preserve in West Tisbury owes its existence to Henry Beetle Hough, the longtime editor of the Vineyard Gazette, who as a boy explored these woods and later spent decades fighting to protect them. Today, managed by Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, it has one of the island's best short hikes: a 1.4-mile loop through oak-beech forest, cranberry bogs, a turtle pond, wind-sheared coastal heath, and bluffs overlooking the Elizabeth Islands.
Filmed April 2024The island moves on: shops, signs and prices may differ from what you see here. The text of this guide was checked October 2026.
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Cedar Tree Neck is, true to its name, a "neck": a narrow peninsula of high ground jutting north into Vineyard Sound. The promontory was created roughly 23,000 years ago when the Buzzards Bay Lobe of the Laurentide ice sheet deposited its terminal moraine, leaving behind the hilly terrain and the huge glacial erratic boulders you see there today. Henry Beetle Hough described it as "almost islanded itself by a large pond just to the west and a smaller pond and marsh in front and the deep bend of the sound on both sides."
The sanctuary spans about 400 acres; the same Sheriff's Meadow Foundation page puts the current total at 436 acres, built up from many gifts of land. According to island historian Charles E. Banks, the Wampanoag name for this place is Squemmechchue, which refers to cranberries, not cedars. The English name "Cedar Tree Neck" dates to at least 1718, when it appears in a deposition of Jonathan Luce. The cedars in question are Eastern red cedars (Juniperus virginiana), technically junipers, which colonized former pastureland and remain prominent throughout the property.
Three bodies of water shape the sanctuary. Vineyard Sound breaks against the rocky northern shoreline, Cedar Tree Neck Pond (also called Daggett Pond) sits behind the beach, and Ames Pond, a smaller woodland pond deeper in the property, is where visitors find painted turtles sunning on logs. Several streams, a small waterfall and cranberry bogs fill out the freshwater side, and close by, off the Ephraim Allen Road, is the one-acre Pond Lot that Hough gave Sheriff’s Meadow, with a vernal pool he named Lake Elizabeth after his wife.
A sunken, sandy stretch of trail, worn down between banks of fallen oak leaves.
The sanctuary's trails are color-coded and well marked, and several are named for the families and conservationists who donated the land. The most popular route (1.4 miles as a true loop on AllTrails, with 121 feet of elevation gain, rated "Easy," averaging 30–60 minutes) combines the White, Yellow-Blue, Neighborhood, Blue, and Maria Daggett Trails from the main Daggett Trailhead.
The named trails are:
Underfoot it changes a lot: packed dirt with exposed roots and rocks in the forest, boardwalks over the wet sections, heavy sand near the beach and tumbled boulders along the shore. The route is broadly family-friendly (AllTrails reviewers call it "good for kids"), but it is not stroller-accessible, and the footing is uneven for anyone unsteady on roots and rocks.
GPS coordinates for the Daggett Trailhead parking lot: 41.4327°N, 70.6962°W.
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Cedar Tree Neck is a tangle of glacial hills and ponds on the north shore, threaded with trails that the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation keeps wild and free to walk.
The neck itself is a wind-battered glacial bluff with a different character on each side. The inland side has what MV Times writer Jonathan Burke called "a magical canopy of bent and crooked trees," dense and sheltered. The seaward face is exposed, with grasses and stunted American beeches shaped by the wind. The trail gains about 120 feet over the loop.
A driftwood log and a broken paddleboard washed up under the bluffs. The beach here is all stones, better for walking than swimming.
From the bluff, Vineyard Sound stretches north, with the low Elizabeth Islands, Naushon in particular, clearly visible across the water. Cedar Tree Neck Pond gleams below to the west.
A rocky beach, often empty, sits at the base of the bluffs. Swimming is not permitted there: terns and piping plover (a federally threatened species) nest on it, and the Vineyard Sound currents along the rocks are strong.
The land donors remembered at the sanctuary entrance. The preserve was put together from gifts of land.
Henry Beetle Hough (1896–1985) is the central figure in Cedar Tree Neck's history. Born in New Bedford, he grew up visiting the Vineyard, where his family owned a property called "Fish Hook" on the north shore near Cedar Tree Neck. He graduated from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in 1918, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Newspaper History at age 21.
At Columbia he met Elizabeth Bowie, and their 1920 marriage came with an unusual wedding gift: Hough's father bought them the Vineyard Gazette. Henry and Betty ran the paper together for 45 years, until her death in 1965, and built it into one of the country's most respected community papers; Henry sold it to James and Sally Reston in 1968.
In the mid-1960s, Hough worked with Allen H. Morgan of Massachusetts Audubon on a public campaign to buy 100 acres from the Daggett family. The Hough family donated 60 acres of their adjacent Fish Hook property. He also founded Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, which now protects over 3,500 acres across 75 preserves on the island.
The mix of habitats draws a long list of species. Osprey nest at the sanctuary and soar above the grassy dunes, and piping plover, a federally threatened species, have been seen along the beach. The forest has downy woodpeckers, chestnut-sided warblers, cedar waxwings and possibly the worm-eating warbler, which doesn't nest anywhere else on the Vineyard.
Ames Pond is the place for painted turtles, which sun on floating logs in spring and summer alongside snapping turtles and peeping tree frogs. The canopy is oak, American beech, maple, sassafras and black gum (locally called "Beetlebung" trees), and the wildflowers include starflower (a small white woodland flower), wild sarsaparilla and jack-in-the-pulpit.
Ticks are worth taking seriously on Martha's Vineyard. Three species are present, including the Lone Star tick, and positive alpha-gal tests at Martha's Vineyard Hospital went from 2 in 2020 to 742 in 2025. Permethrin-treated clothing and a thorough tick check after every visit go a long way. Poison ivy is also widespread along the trails.
Hours: 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM daily. Admission: Free. Dogs: Allowed on a leash. Restrooms: None listed by Sheriff’s Meadow, so plan ahead. Swimming is not permitted at the sanctuary.
Parking at the main Daggett Trailhead is an unpaved lot with about 11 spaces, and it can fill on peak summer days.
The trail map at the trailhead, posted by Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation.
Driving from the Vineyard Haven ferry terminal takes about 10–15 minutes over roughly 5 miles. Take State Road west, veer right onto Indian Hill Road for 1.75 miles, then turn right onto Obed Daggett Road and follow "Sanctuary" signs for 1 mile to the parking area. Indian Hill Road is paved; Obed Daggett Road is a narrow dirt road and slow going.
Public transit does not reach the sanctuary directly. VTA Route #3 runs from the Vineyard Haven terminal to West Tisbury, but the closest stop leaves you roughly 2.75 miles from the trailhead. The VTA is fare-free through June 30, 2027.
Spring (May–June) brings migratory warblers, wildflowers, and active painted turtles at Ames Pond. Summer has the most going on (osprey, nesting shorebirds, full canopy), though the sanctuary stays much less crowded than the island's popular beaches. Fall brings good color from the oak, maple, beech and cedar mix. Winter means empty trails, woodpecker calls, and a bare, wind-scoured shore.
Seasonal beach closures for nesting terns and piping plover typically run April through August, with fenced-off nesting areas. The trails themselves remain open year-round.
Lake Tashmoo Town Beach is roughly 3–4 miles east, with swimming on the Vineyard Sound side; Tisbury bans swimming and diving in the channel into the lake, where the current can be strong, and in summer 2026 the town lot at the end of Herring Creek Road was closed to cars for nesting birds. West Tisbury village center, home to Alley's General Store (operating since 1858), is about 3 miles south. Long Point Wildlife Refuge, The Trustees' 632-acre south-shore preserve with a swimmable beach, is roughly 8–10 miles away. Menemsha, the fishing village, is a similar distance west.
Cronig's Market (Up-Island location) sits at the State Road/Indian Hill Road junction, at the turnoff to the sanctuary. Polly Hill Arboretum, a 72-acre public garden on the National Register of Historic Places, is just 2–3 miles from the Cedar Tree Neck turnoff.
The short version: about 400 acres, free, open year-round (8:30 AM–5:30 PM), dogs on leash, no swimming, 5 miles from the Vineyard Haven ferry.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one price range. Drive about 5 miles from the Vineyard Haven ferry, 10 to 15 minutes: State Road west, right onto Indian Hill Road for 1.75 miles, then right onto Obed Daggett Road and follow the Sanctuary signs for a mile. The last stretch is a narrow dirt road. No bus reaches the trailhead; the nearest VTA stop in West Tisbury is about 2.75 miles away.
Admission is free. The Daggett Trailhead lot is unpaved with roughly 11 spaces, and it can fill on peak summer days, so early or late is easier. The sanctuary is open 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM daily, year-round; Sheriff’s Meadow lists no restrooms, so plan ahead.
Yes, on a leash. The leash matters most on the beach, because terns and piping plover nest there and parts of the shore are fenced off from April through August. More dog-friendly spots are in our pet-friendly guide.
No. Swimming is not permitted on the rocky Vineyard Sound shore, both for the nesting birds and because the currents are strong. For a swim afterward, Lake Tashmoo Town Beach is about 10 minutes east (Sound side only, since the town bans swimming in the channel, and its lot was closed to cars in summer 2026); see our Lake Tashmoo guide.
The main loop is 1.4 miles with about 120 feet of climbing, rated easy and taking 30 to 60 minutes. Kids do fine on it, but it is not stroller-friendly: expect roots, rocks, boardwalks and deep sand, so real shoes help.
Closed shoes, water and bug protection. Ticks are a real problem on the island, so permethrin-treated clothing, staying on the trail and a full tick check afterward are all worth it; poison ivy lines the paths too. Our tick safety guide has the details.
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