Local Trails on the North Shore
Summer is in full swing and it’s the perfect season to get outside and explore the local trails in the north of Boston area! We’ve put together some of our favorite places to visit when you stay at Briar Barn Inn. If you haven’t booked yet, learn more about our rooms here!
THE CRANE ESTATE
Crane Beach and Crane Wildlife Refuge: A national historic landmark
Ipswich, Massachusetts
The Crane Estate is a sprawling oceanside attraction with over 2,000 acres to explore! The main attraction is the iconic Great House with a great rolling lawn and formal gardens. A more adventurous trail takes you past beaches, sand dunes, and wetlands filled with wildlife and ocean breeze. This outing pairs perfectly with a lunch or dinner of fresh local seafood!
APPLETON FARMS
Ipswich & Hamilton, Massachusetts
Appleton Farms offers a pastoral landscape open rolling grasslands, forest, and working farm buildings (this property still operates a CSA and produces milk from their own cows that graze on the land)! Just a short ways from Briar Barn Inn, this property preserves the agricultural history of the North of Boston region.
HALIBUT POINT RESERVATION
Rockport, Massachusetts
Learn about Cape Ann’s historical connection to the granite industry as you walk around a large quarry, now filled by natural underground springs. On a clear day, you might see Mount Agamenticus, located 81 miles away in Maine, and the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire. You’ll pass tide pools, rocky ledges, and oceanfront cliffs at the edge of Cape Ann!
LONG HILL
Beverly, Massachusetts
A federal-style mansion, formerly owned by Ellery and Mabel Sedgwick. Mabel was an accomplished gardener and horticulturist, and her summer home decorated and designed to be surrounded by lush gardens and eventually expanded upon to include rare trees, and shrubs – making the trails especially during peak bloom seasons in May and June. A popular 1.2 mile loop passes by “quintessential New England woodlands” an easy hike for families.
DON’T FORGET!
- Comfortable shoes
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellant
- Water
