Misty East Over
Explore a landscape of broad fields and elegant double-faced stone walls, once part of a larger farm that's still in operation today.
East Over Reservation’s agrarian terrain and iconic yellow farm buildings evoke a sense of days gone by. The old field habitat supports a distinctive assemblage of wildlife species including blue-winged warbler, Eastern towhee, and cottontail rabbit. Two miles of quarry-stone-capped double walls surround it all and speak to the property’s history: stone walls had become a more aesthetic element of rural architecture by the 19th century, and the rock barriers surrounding the East Over landscape took more than a decade to complete.
A trailhead on Clapp Road in Rochester provides a starting point for following meadow paths along stone walls. Trails pass through a mosaic of farm fields, forests, and winding hedgerows. The surrounding woods shelter vernal pools and, amidst the fields and barns, you’ll find bobolinks, orioles, and chimney swifts.
An additional trailhead on County Road in Marion accesses miles of East Over landscape, through the Hales Brook & Sippican River Tract, where forest trails traverse pine and oak uplands and unique wetland habitats, and provide sweeping views of active cranberry bogs.
FREE to all
Hours sunrise to sunset.
Clapp Road
Rochester, MA 02770
Telephone: 508.636.4693
E-mail: southcoast@thetrustees.org
Get directions on Google Maps.
Clapp Road entrance, from points North:
Take I-495 South to Exit 2, Rt. 58 South. Take a slight right onto Rt. 58; go 0.2 miles to traffic light. Rt. 58 becomes County Rd. Go 2.5 miles to fourway intersection. Turn right onto Mary’s Pond Rd. Go 2.5 miles, then turn right onto Clapp Road. Parking lot is 0.5 mi. on right.
Clapp Road entrance, from points South:
Take I-195 East, Exit 20. Turn left onto Front St./Rt. 105 North. After approx. 1.5 mi. turn right onto Walnut Plain Rd. At first intersection, turn right onto Mary’s Pond Rd. After approx. 0.5 mi., turn left onto Clapp Rd. Parking lot is about 0.5 mi. on right.
County Road entrance:
From I-195: Take exit 20 and take Rt. 105 North. Go .3 miles and turn right onto County Rd. The parking area is on the left just before 285 County Road.
The rural surroundings evoke a simpler, less-pressured time in America, but that Currier & Ives feeling is belied by the fact that the Buzzards Bay watershed is facing unprecedented modern threats from development and sprawl. Preserving crucial tracts such as this helps protect land and water for everyone.
East Over’s varied wildlife habitats are largely an artifact of past land uses. Today, rolling fields and abandoned pasture lands comprise well over half of East Over’s acreage. Almost 40 acres of hayfields provide not only an important agricultural crop, but also habitat for grassland wildlife such as bobolinks, meadow voles, and colorful butterflies. Twelve acres of fields at East Over once used to pasture livestock are now undergoing succession toward woodland. This old field habitat supports a distinctive assemblage of wildlife species including blue-winged warbler, Eastern towhee, and cottontail rabbit. Vernal pools scattered across East Over are critical breeding habitats for a number of amphibians and reptiles, some of which are rare.
The region’s earliest walls were haphazard affairs, constructed of every size and shape rock turned over by colonial farmers. By the 19th century, stone walls had become a more aesthetic element of rural architecture. Those which grace the East Over landscape are strong, double-faced, and capped by custom-quarried granite. Little wonder the two miles of rock barriers surrounding the farm took over a decade to complete.
There is a trail map posted on a kiosk in the parking area.
We recommend that you take a photo of the map on your phone so you can refer to it during your visit, or download a trail map before you head out. You may also want to download this trail map for the adjoining East Over Reservation – Hales Brook and Sippican River.
East Over Reservation was formerly part of a larger working landscape that included agriculture, cranberry harvesting, and a Colonial-era millworks on the Sippican River. In the mid-19th century, New York businessman Charles H. Leonard began to transform the landscape, and built the network of elegant stone walls. The Hiller family purchased the land in 1910 and provided careful stewardship for almost a century.
Wonderful place for a walk or to look for birds. In June you can find bobolinks nesting near the stone wall or flying around. There are also Baltimore Orioles and many other birds. Take a walk through the woods, around the field, or to the pond.
– Priscilla B, TripAdvisor
