The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts - Halfway Pond Island Preserve

Halfway Pond Island Preserve

Why You Should Visit
The island, which sits in the middle of a 232-acre coastal plain pond, is remarkable for its little evidence of human disturbance. Core borings indicate that some of the trees on the island are at least 175 years old.

Location
Plymouth, Massachusetts

Hours
Halfway Pond Island is open to visitors by prior arrangement only.

Size
12 acres

How to Prepare for Your Visit
Please contact our Boston office at (617) 227-7017 to schedule a visit. Parking is very limited and so please pull off the road when parking at the bog and carpool if at all possible.

Directions
Directions can be obtained at time visits are scheduled.

What to See: Plants
Spared the heavy cutting and burning that occurred throughout the mainland, the island's diverse forest of beech, red maple, eastern hemlock, white pine, and yellow birch stands in vivid contrast to the pitch pine and scrub oak forest that dominates on Massachusetts's southeastern coastal plain. There is also more recent growth of holly and tupelo.

What to See: Animals
Bald eagles

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
With the exception of holly and tupelo, the forest community on Halfway Pond Island represents an assemblage of species now typical of more northerly areas of New England. Botanists speculate that this forest type may once have been predominant throughout the region, but perhaps became a casualty of the "burn and sow" agricultural techniques employed in precolonial times. Halfway Pond Island is therefore of particular interest as a biological reference point.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Halfway Pond Island is being managed as a research natural area.