At Halibut Point Reservation, bird watchers get an eyeful from this low coastal shelf overlooking dramatic surf, where storms wallop the craggy shore, and tidal pools harbor snails, hermit crabs, and sea stars. The state park adjacent to the reservation surrounds the former Babson Farm Quarry, where granite was quarried at the turn of the 20th century and used to build thousands of streets, bridges, tunnels, monuments, warehouses, and buildings.

Today, the quarry is filled with ground water.  Tidal pools harbor snails, hermit crabs, and sea stars. Weather-beaten bluffs make up a low rocky coastal shelf covered in bayberry, greenbriar, and shadbush, and during storms, waves crash over the rocky shore.

Follow two and a half miles of trails and get a glimpse of the reservation’s natural wonders. Elsewhere, the adjacent state park operates a small visitor center and museum that tells the story of Cape Ann’s historic granite industry.

When to Visit
Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Allow a minimum of 1 hour, 2 hours if visiting state park and its visitor center and museum.

Admission
Parking for Halibut Point Reservation is shared with Halibut Point State Park. Admission is FREE for Trustees Members, pedestrians, and bicyclists, but you must display your Trustees Membership card on the dashboard of your vehicle, with your Membership number and expiration date clearly visible, in order to ensure free parking.

Parking fee for nonmembers year-round. Nonmembers may use the following parking passes for free parking:

• Annual DCR ParksPass
• Day Use Parking Pass
• Library or Recreation Department ParksPass
• Senior Citizen Pass
• Disable Parking Placard/License Plate
• Disable Veterans License Plate

Memorial Day through Labor Day:

• Fee based parking when available.
• When parking lot is full, lot closes for a 2-hour time frame.
• No waiting at the gate allowed.

4 Gott Avenue
Pigeon Cove
Rockport, MA 01966
Telephone: 978.526.8687
E-mail: dgove@thetrustees.org

Get directions on Google Maps.

From Rt. 128 Exit 9, take Rt. 127 North for 3 mi. At Rockport Center, turn left onto Railroad Ave. (remains Rt. 127) and follow for 2.4 mi. Turn right onto Gott Ave. Entrance and parking (70 cars) on right.

Please note :The facilities at Halibut Point State Park are presently closed due to Covid-19.

The state park operates a small visitor center and museum devoted to Halibut Point’s natural history and Cape Ann’s historic granite quarrying industry, of which Halibut Point’s Babson Farm Quarry was a major part. The visitor center has public restrooms.

Trails
2.5 miles of trails. Moderate walking. The reservation is a link in Rockport’s Atlantic Path.

Interpretive brochure with map available for free from the gatehouse attendant and the State Park’s visitor center. The brochure covers both Halibut Point State Park (Department of Conservation and Recreation) and The Trustees’ Halibut Point Reservation. Please understand that supplies periodically run out.

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.

• Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times.
• PHOTOGRAPHY: We ask that photographers or their clients become Supporting Level Members before conducting portrait sessions at this property. Click here for more information, and to request permission for any portrait sessions. The Trustees of Reservations reserves the right, and may give permission to its designated photographers and videographers, or to outside media, to photograph or video visitors and program participants at all its facilities and properties.

We do not allow: 

• swimming or entering the quarry for any reason
• alcoholic beverages, fires, charcoal, grills
• bicycles, scooters, skate or hover boards
• camping
• drones, metal detectors
• removing park resources (animals -tidal or other, flowers, plants, rocks (never throw rocks))
• Hunting is not permitted at this reservation. Learn more about hunting on Trustees properties.