Chatham Conservation Foundation Preserves & Trails

The Chatham Conservation Foundation is a nonprofit land trust that protects open space across the town of Chatham, Massachusetts, and keeps a network of public trails open for anyone to walk. It owns or holds conservation restrictions on land ranging from pine and oak woodland to salt marsh and pond frontage, and it maintains marked trails on several of those properties for public use.

Visitors can walk these trails without paying a fee or booking a reservation. The organization also runs a historic house museum, hosts volunteer stewardship days, and depends on membership dues and donations to keep buying and protecting land before it can be developed.

What Is the Chatham Conservation Foundation?

The Chatham Conservation Foundation, known locally as CCF, is a donor-supported community land trust chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1962. That makes it the first private land trust on Cape Cod, predating most of the regional conservation groups that now protect land in neighboring towns. 

• CCF's stated mission is to preserve open space in perpetuity for the benefit of Chatham's people, plants, animals, and ecosystems through acquisition, stewardship, education, and advocacy (Chatham Conservation Foundation, "History").
• CCF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which means it operates independently of Chatham's town government. The town has its own Conservation Commission that manages a separate set of municipal conservation areas, including Rolf E. Sylvan Gardens and Forest Beach Conservation Area. CCF and the town work as partners on habitat protection and trail access, but they are two distinct organizations with separate landholdings.
• A small staff of land stewards and an executive director run day-to-day operations, with an executive committee and volunteer trustees setting policy. Today, the Foundation reports close to 700 members, a base that funds most of its acquisition and stewardship work.
• Education is part of that mission alongside acquisition. CCF has long distributed "A Beachcomber's Botany," a 158-page illustrated guide to the plant life found in Chatham's marshes, shorelines, and uplands, written by Cornell University Professor Emeritus Loren C. Petry with illustrations by Marcia Gaylord Norman. Copies circulate in public libraries across Cape Cod, giving the Foundation's stewardship work a reach beyond its own trails.

The Foundation's History, From Charter to Today

CCF's founding traces back to Robert McNeece, a Chatham Selectman who wanted a way for residents to donate land for conservation without giving it to a government body. He worked with John Manson and retired Army General Lucius Clay to charter the organization in 1962. 

Seventeen life members signed on at the start, and Dorothy W. Smith donated the first parcel, a piece of Fox Hill Island in Pleasant Bay (Chatham Conservation Foundation, "History").

Several milestones since then have shaped the Foundation into its current form:

• In 1967, CCF began using conservation restrictions, a legal tool that lets a landowner keep title to their property while permanently limiting how it can be developed. The Foundation now holds restrictions on 45 parcels covering 211 acres.
• In 1976, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank gifted the Josiah Mayo House to CCF after buying the surrounding lot for a bank branch. The house became the Foundation's headquarters.
• In 2014, CCF ran a capital campaign to buy the Twine Field, a rare native sandplain grassland, and held the property until Chatham's town meeting voted to acquire it.
• In 2022, the Foundation marked its 60th anniversary by opening the Mill Pond Overlook Trail and expanding its guided trail-walk programming.
• In 2023, CCF led the revival of town-wide Earth Day events, coordinating cleanups, nature walks, and native seedling giveaways with other local groups.

Across that history, the Foundation has grown from a handful of donated acres to an inventory of 224 parcels totaling more than 820 acres of upland, beach, pond, and marsh.

Preserves in the Chatham Conservation Foundation's Portfolio

Not every CCF property is open to the public. Some parcels are too small, too fragile, or too isolated to support foot traffic, so the Foundation restricts access to protect the habitat. Others were built with public trails from the start. A sample of the portfolio shows the range:

• Barclay's Pond, a 47-acre parcel off Queen Anne Road with a walking trail through pine and oak forest and views of the pond, is open to the public.
• Fox Hill Island, a 2.5-acre island in the Bassing Harbor area of Pleasant Bay, reachable by boat or from the Strong Island Road town landing, open to the public.
• Frost Fish Creek, an 84-acre corridor running from Route 28 to Meadowbrook Road, with a trail that follows the creek into forested upland, open to the public.
• Strong Island, a barrier beach and upland property in Pleasant Bay with a sheltered beach and ocean-view trails, open to the public except for a small marked private section.
• Goose Pond, a 23-acre parcel bordering the pond on its south and east sides, held for habitat protection with no public access.
• Muddy Creek, an estuary on the Harwich border where CCF holds both owned land and conservation restrictions, with no public access.
• The Nickerson Restoration Site, a 1.4-acre parcel where CCF is restoring native vegetation and building a new public trail around the archaeological site of an early Chatham homestead.
• Herring Run, a fenced, less-than-one-acre parcel that holds Chatham's only active herring run, with access limited to within the fenced area to protect the annual spawning migration.
• Ridgevale Beach Hills, a 19-acre former cranberry bog off Cranberry Lane in South Chatham, is held for habitat protection with no public access.

This mix of open and closed parcels reflects how land trusts typically operate. Protecting ecologically sensitive ground matters more than making every acre walkable.

Public Trails You Can Walk Right Now

CCF maintains marked trails and posts trail maps for five properties. Each has its own terrain and distance, so visitors can pick a walk that matches their time and interest:

1. Strong Island: 1.7 miles over soil surface and beach sand with modest hills, covering 75 acres of pine and oak woods, beach, and salt marsh.
2. Frost Fish Creek: 1 mile over soil tread with some hilly sections, covering 50 acres of pine and oak woods, salt marsh, and swamp.
3. Barclay's Pond: 1.5 miles over hilly soil tread, covering 30 acres of pine and oak woods around a coastal plain pond.
4. Mill Pond Overlook: 0.5 miles over a woodchip and soil surface with mild hills, covering 9 acres of salt marsh, coastal bank, and woods.
5. Morris Island Trail (Monomoy): 1.5 miles over soil, beach sand, and road, covering 35 acres of beach, dune, salt marsh, and woods (Chatham Conservation Foundation, "Trail Guides").

Parking is limited at each site and marked on the individual trail maps. Trail rules keep the land in good condition for both wildlife and future visitors: stay on marked paths, keep dogs leashed at six feet or shorter, pack out any waste, and skip the motorized vehicles, fires, hunting, and camping that damage sensitive habitat.

Chatham Conservation Foundation Trails Versus Town Conservation Areas

Visitors researching Chatham conservation areas often encounter a mix of Foundation-owned and town-owned land, and the two are easy to confuse. CCF properties such as Strong Island and Frost Fish Creek belong to the Foundation itself.

Sylvan Gardens and Forest Beach Conservation Area, by contrast, belong to the Town of Chatham and are managed by its Conservation Commission, even though CCF's own trail guide lists them as nearby options worth a visit.

The Rolf E. Sylvan Gardens Conservation Area sits on Old Main Street in West Chatham and offers the only ADA-accessible trail in any Chatham conservation area, on a compact 9.5-acre site with pond overlooks and spring blooms left over from a former commercial nursery. Forest Beach Conservation Area, on the other hand, covers 74 acres on Nantucket Sound in South Chatham and is part of roughly 1,000 acres of conservation land the Town of Chatham owns overall. Its salt marsh and barrier beach setting make it a strong stop for shorebird and osprey watching.

CCF, the Town's Conservation Commission, and the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, which lists CCF among its member land trusts, use different funding models but share the same broad goal of keeping Chatham's open space intact.

Volunteering With the Chatham Conservation Foundation

CCF runs several volunteer tracks, and none require prior conservation experience:

• Stewardship Volunteer Days happen once or twice a week each spring, summer, and fall, usually on Thursday mornings. Tasks include planting native species, pulling invasive plants, and trimming trails.
• Property Monitoring volunteers walk an assigned property about twice a year, checking for storm damage, erosion, or other stewardship concerns and reporting back to staff.
• Mayo House Docents lead visitors through CCF's historic headquarters in two-hour shifts running from spring through the end of the year. Training is provided, so no background in local history is required.
• Event Support volunteers help staff fundraisers, environmental fairs, farmer's market tables, and community events such as Earth Week and the Christmas Stroll.
• Wildlife and Plant Monitoring suits volunteers with a background in ecology or birding. Projects include bird inventorying and wildlife camera surveys, matched to each volunteer's experience.

Anyone interested can fill out CCF's online volunteer form, and staff follow up to schedule an orientation.

Membership, Donations, and Planned Giving

CCF depends almost entirely on member dues and donor gifts to fund land purchases, trail maintenance, and staff salaries. The Foundation offers several ways to contribute:

• Membership is available online or by mail, with dues supporting the Foundation's general operating budget.
• Annual donations can be made through CCF's website or mailed as a check to its Main Street office.
• Memorial and tribute gifts let donors honor someone's memory or celebrate an occasion with a contribution to conservation.
• Land donations and conservation restrictions may qualify the donor for income, estate, or gift tax benefits, and CCF encourages anyone considering this route to speak with an attorney or tax advisor first.
• Planned giving, including bequests, IRA gifts, and life insurance gifts, supports the Foundation's long-term work and its Land Stewards for Tomorrow fund, which expands stewardship and restoration capacity.
• Business sponsorships support CCF's Annual Meeting and its printed newsletter, The Bulletin.

Donors who want to fund a specific purchase, such as trail signage or restoration equipment, can also make an earmarked gift by noting the purpose on the donation form.

Planning a Visit to Chatham Conservation Foundation Preserves

A little planning makes any of CCF's public trails easier to enjoy:

• Check the individual trail map before heading out, since parking areas are small and specific to each property.
• Wear closed-toe shoes on the hillier trails, such as Barclay's Pond and Strong Island, where soil tread can get uneven after rain.
• Bring insect protection in the warmer months, since coastal scrub and marsh edges support active tick populations.
• Leash dogs at all times and carry out any waste, in line with Chatham's town leash laws.
• Pair a CCF trail with a nearby stop. Visitors interested in Chatham's osprey population will find nesting platforms near several of the Foundation's marsh-front properties, and anyone planning a longer outing can check the broader Cape Cod hiking trail guide for routes beyond Chatham.

The Chatham Conservation Foundation's Place in the Bigger Picture

Sixty years after its charter, the Chatham Conservation Foundation still runs on the same basic model: acquire land, protect it permanently, and let residents and visitors walk it.

Its portfolio now sits alongside the Town of Chatham's own conservation areas and the wider network covered on the Chamber's conservation and preservation page, giving anyone who wants to explore Chatham's natural side several starting points depending on how far they want to walk and how much history they want with the view.

Before setting out, anyone who wants current trail conditions, parking updates, or help building a full day around CCF's preserves can reach out to the Chatham Chamber of Commerce for local trip-planning help.