MASSACHUSETTS - Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket

Chappaquiddick Island’s eastern edge is a barrier beach that extends for seven miles from Wasque Point past the Cape Poge Lighthouse to the Gut. The refuge offers 14 miles of beachfront and oversand vehicle and walking trails. Facilities include picnic tables, bike rack, restrooms, which are open May 30 to October 30. Fresh water is available by hand pump at the Wasque and Mytoi parking areas. Annual over-sand vehicle permits available for qualified vehicle owners. Tours include a natural history tour, a wildlife kayak or canoe tour, a fishing discovery tour, and Cape Poge Lighthouse tour. Entrance fee May 30 to October 15; free to pedestrians off season. Open year-round, daily, 24 hours. Gatehouse open May 30-October 15, daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Correllus State Forest occupies over 5,100 acres in the center of Martha's Vineyard. It is managed for passive recreation, mostly hiking and cycling on its 15 miles of bike paths. It is also the focus of one of the largest environmental restoration projects in the country. The Great Plain that forms much of Martha's Vineyard supports an unusual concentration of rare species and extensive examples of several uncommon sand-plain communities, including grasslands, heathlands, barrens, and woodlands, dominated by mixed oak-pine.

The highlight of Menemsha Hills is Prospect Hill, one of the highest points on Martha's Vineyard, whose spectacular view includes the village of Menemsha, the Elizabeth Islands, and Gay Head Light. Former woods roads and footpaths pass through several distinct ecosystems, including perched wetlands that support red maples, cinquefoil, beech, and black cherry. At Menemsha Hills bluffs, a view of the Great Sand Bank provides a reminder of the Vineyard's glacial origin, and to the northeast stands the remains of a tall brick chimney, the last vestige of a 19th-century brickyard that operated here.