Huckleberry Barrens

Photo Kelsey Perrett

A Little Piece of Katama

Sheriff’s Meadow Says: Huckleberry Barrens is a 17-acre swath of the Katama Plain. The property was formerly known as the Edgartown Pond Lot, and it was conserved as a result of a development designed by the Vineyard Open Land Foundation. The trail crosses a landscape that represents that natural habitat of this open sand plain: barrens of huckleberry shrubs, thickets of scrub and post oak, groves of eastern red cedar, clumps of bayberries. A lilac grows beside an old cellar hole, and broad oaks offer shade and shelter from the wind. The trail is a loop, and a spur connects to the bike path along Katama Road. The trail is open for walking, bicycling, horseback-riding and cross-country skiing from dawn to dusk.

Sheriff’s Meadow’s Trail Map

Getting there: Heading south on the Katama Road, turn left onto Edgartown Bay Road. Trailhead is located on the right; look for the kiosk.

Find out more at www.sheriffsmeadow.org.

From the Land Bank’s description: Visitors to the Felix Neck wildlife sanctuary, which for decades has been the island’s premier environmental education center, assumed for years that both sides of the Felix Neck Road were securely conserved. In fact, only the westerly side was; this made the easterly side a Land Bank priority. East and west are now both conserved; no unprotected open space remains on the Felix Neck peninsula.

Getting there:  The entrance to Felix neck is off of the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.