Ellisville Harbor State Park is a nature preserve and public recreation area located in the village of Ellisville, Massachusetts, on the western shore of Cape Cod Bay. Natural features of the coastal property include a barrier beach, sphagnum bog, salt marsh, rolling meadows, and red pine forest habitats. Scenic features include views of the South Shore coastline, small fishing boats, harbor seals seen offshore during fall and winter, and birds attracted to the park's bog as both habitat and migration stopover. The state park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
History
Between 2,500 and 5,000 years ago, prehistoric Native Americans hunted, fished, harvested shellfish, and made tools here. An area of approximately 600 acres (240 ha), which includes at least two Native American sites, was designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in 1980. The state acquired 100 acres (40 ha) of the ACEC to create the state park in 1991. In its earlier days, the harbor was a busy loading spot for ships taking timber to Boston and for local fishing. The park's reproduction colonial farmstead/tavern property is part of the Department of Conservation and Recreation's Historic Curatorship Program.
Activities and amenities
The park offers opportunities for fishing, hiking, cross-country skiing, and beachcombing. A wide main trail of about 350 yards is maintained with a processed stone surface from a parking area to a wide, rocky beach. The endangered piping plovers and least terns nest along a section of the beach which is closed in the spring. Several side trails where poison ivy may cling to trail edges access other areas of the park.
|
---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wildlife Management Areas
|
---|
|
Wildlife
Management Areas |
|
---|
|
Wildlife
Sanctuaries |
- Billingsgate Island
- Carr Island
- E. Howe Forbush
- Egg Rock
- Grace A. Robson
- J.C. Phillips
- Knight
- Penikese Island
- Ram Island (Salisbury)
- Ram Island (Mattapoisett)
- Susan B. Minns
- Tarpaulin Cove
- Watatic Mountain
|
---|
|
|
|
The Nature Conservancy
|
---|
|
- Black Pond Bog
- Boat Meadow
- Francis Newhall Woods
- Grassy Pond
- Greene Swamp
- Halfway Pond Island
- Hawley Bog
- Hockomock Swamp
- Hoft Farm
- Homer-Watcha Preserve
- Katama Plains
- McElwain-Olsen
- Miacomet Moors
- Reed Brook
- Drury
- Sandy Neck
- David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail
- Stacy Mountain
- Tatkon
|
|
|
|
|
Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuaries
|
---|
|
- Allens Pond
- Arcadia
- Ashumet Holly
- Attleboro Springs
- Barnstable Great Marsh
- Blue Hills Trailside Museum
- Boston Nature Center
- Broad Meadow Brook
- Broadmoor
- Burncoat Pond
- Canoe Meadows
- Daniel Webster
- Drumlin Farm
- Eagle Lake
- Eastern Point
- Endicott
- Felix Neck
- Flat Rock
- Graves Farm
- Great Neck
- Habitat
- High Ledges
- Ipswich River
- Joppa Flats
- Kettle Island
- Lake Wampanoag
- Laughing Brook
- Lime Kiln Farm
- Lincoln Woods
- Long Pasture
- Lynes Woods
- Marblehead Neck
- Moose Hill
- Museum of American Bird Art
- Nahant Thicket
- Nashoba Brook
- North Hill Marsh
- North River
- Oak Knoll
- Pierpont Meadow
- Pleasant Valley
- Poor Farm Hill
- Richardson Brook
- Road's End
- Rough Meadows
- Rutland Brook
- Sampsons Island
- Sesachacha Heathlands
- Skunknett River
- Stony Brook
- Wachusett Meadow
- Waseeka
- Wellfleet Bay
- Wildwood Camp
|
|
|
Other
|
---|
|
- Concord Land Conservation Trust
- Harvard Forest
- Lincoln Land Conservation Trust
- Lloyd Center for the Environment
- Lynn Woods Reservation
- Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary
- Old Harbor Wildlife Refuge
|
|
|
- Category
- Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
- Commons
|
|