Chilmark

The Moor · a boardwalk to the water

Chilmark keeps its drama low and wide: a boardwalk bending through wind-killed trees, the Atlantic waiting flat and gray at the end of it.

Plate 01

Chilmark is a rural, up-Island town on the western side of Martha's Vineyard. The English-speaking community here dates to the 1600s, though the land has been home to the Wampanoag people for thousands of years. Today, Chilmark is known for preserved farmland, rolling hills, secluded beaches, quiet landscapes, and a tight-knit population of roughly 1,200 residents.

This guide was written and photographed by MV Vacation, based on extensive on-island filming, documentation, and field research.

We respectfully acknowledge the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) as the original stewards of this land.

Chilmark sits between West Tisbury and Aquinnah, forming the quiet, rural heart of the island's up-Island region. It is a good base for the western end of the island.

Finding Chilmark

Beetlebung Corner

The center of Chilmark life sits at Beetlebung Corner, where South Road, Middle Road, and Menemsha Crossroad intersect. A handful of places do all the work here:

If you are exploring more up-Island food destinations, consider visiting nearby West Tisbury, home to additional farmstands, markets, and scenic conservation lands.

The Farms

Chilmark is one of the Vineyard's most agricultural communities, with active farms supplying produce, dairy, breads, and meats across the island.

A

B

C

Beetlebung Corner and the farms · three studies Plate 02

A: the General Store porch, the town's year-round hub; B: the handwritten price board at the Mermaid Farm dairy shed; C: the herd at Native Earth Teaching Farm.

Trails and Ponds

Chilmark touches both Vineyard Sound and the Atlantic, and some of the island's best walking runs between the two.

Chilmark's beaches are among the most beautiful (and restricted) on the island:

The Chilmark Landscape, Season by Season

Chilmark has been a fishing and farming town for close to three centuries, and the land still reads that way: rolling hills, gray stone walls running down to the water, and trees pruned low and leaning by the southwest wind that blows most summer afternoons. Drive down toward Menemsha and you will see whole hillsides of oak and cedar bent the same direction. The fields at Keith Farm on Middle Road, with the barn, the stone wall and the split-rail fence, were put under conservation by the family with the Vineyard Open Land Foundation and are one of the best-loved views from a public road on the island. Slow down there rather than stopping in the lane.

The color changes month by month. Yellow Scotch broom opens along the roadsides in June, followed by daisies, rugosa rose, beach pea and black-eyed Susans, then Queen Anne's lace, chicory and orange butterfly weed in high summer, and asters and goldenrod, in more kinds than most people can tell apart, from late August into October. That is also when the wild fruit ripens: beach plums in the dunes, blackberries and grapes along the walls, and the beach plum jelly you see at the farm stands comes from exactly these hedgerows.

The south shore is the part of Chilmark that will not sit still. Wind and surf take ground from the clay cliffs every year, and the black, white and red clay that slumps onto the sand at Lucy Vincent and along the Wequobsket Cliffs is resculpted by every winter's storms. The cliffs at Windy Gates, the private estate on those bluffs, were for decades the summer home of Roger Baldwin, the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, who summered in Chilmark from the 1930s and died in 1981 at 97. At Squibnocket the retreat was serious enough that in 2017 and 2018 the town removed the old stone revetment and rebuilt the beach parking lot about 100 feet farther back toward the pond. Please leave the cliffs alone: no climbing, no digging for clay, and stay off the dunes.

For the sunset, head down to Menemsha and the public Menemsha Beach, a few minutes away by car.

Menemsha

On Chilmark's north shore, Menemsha is one of the island's last working fishing villages. It has:

• Two family-run fish markets
• A public beach that faces the sunset
• Docks, lobster boats, and working waterfront
• Boutiques and small seasonal shops

Menemsha Town Beach is open to the public and is widely considered the best sunset spot on Martha's Vineyard.

For real-time harbor conditions and coastal scenery, visit our Island Live Webcams.

Up-Island waters · Chilmark Plate 05

Moored boats going still at dusk: the up-Island evening that empties the roads and fills the ponds with color.

For visitor rules, beach access details, and seasonal information, check our comprehensive Martha's Vineyard FAQ.

For more planning tips, beach info, and up-Island attractions, explore the Chilmark section on MV Vacation.

Chilmark on Film

From Our Lens The up-Island quiet, in every light. 30 photographs · View the Chilmark gallery

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More photos: our Chilmark gallery. View more island visuals in our full Photo Galleries.

For the full 2026 guide with restaurants, events, and practical tips, read our Chilmark and Menemsha Complete Guide (2026).

Three free downloads · 2026 The Beach Guide, the Fall Guide and Where to Stay Every beach decoded, the fall season date by date, and every town and price band for sleeping over: three PDFs, free with the island letter.

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