Polly Hill Arboretum offers an easy stroll through 20 acres featuring a wide variety of cultivated plants. From this accessible nature experience, continue exploring protected areas with wetlands, forests, and coastal habitats. If you enjoy walking, you can take in a range of trail lengths and landscapes.

Walking Trails and Coastal Landscapes

Menemsha Hills is a 211-acre protected area. Trails pass through elevated wetlands to Prospect Hill; three miles of trails wind through stands of holly and blueberry bushes and past boulders and glacial erratics. These details give a tangible sense of the landscape and the extent of the trails, without suggesting that every section is the same.

Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge includes a seven-mile barrier beach with salt marshes, Eastern red cedar habitats, and nesting areas for shorebirds. At Wasque Beach Uplands, the refuge also offers an easily accessible, two-mile walking trail. Access conditions may vary seasonally.

Long Point Wildlife Refuge is home to plants and wildlife that are rare worldwide and adapted to the dry, acidic landscape, coastal ponds, and sandy beach. A two-mile trail leads through oak forest and savanna. For a different way to experience the surroundings, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards are rented there daily in June, July, and August. Check availability before your trip.

The trail lengths offer a concrete comparison for planning: Menemsha Hills lists three miles, while the trails at Long Point and Wasque Beach Uplands are two miles each. There is also the stroll through the arboretum, whose 20-acre figure refers to its area. Together, these offer different landscape experiences, rather than making a single route the focus of your time in nature.

Cultural Sites and Island Stories

The Aquinnah Cultural Center shares the history of the Aquinnah Wampanoag. It combines its museum collection with community voices and cultural events for tribal members and the general public. A visit offers a way to learn about history through both collection objects and community perspectives.

Oak Bluffs is home to the Flying Horses Carousel, the oldest platform carousel in the United States. The Camp Meeting Grounds form a 34-acre circle containing more than 300 colorful, intricately decorated Carpenter Gothic houses. The carousel and the circle of houses offer different highlights: a historic amusement ride on the one hand, and a distinctive ensemble of buildings on the other.

The African American Heritage Trail on Martha’s Vineyard honors the contributions of people of African descent at more than 30 sites. The number of sites may change as more are added. The “One Island, Many Stories” exhibition also explores the history of Martha’s Vineyard: it covers fishing, farming, change, seafaring, creativity, escape, and belonging. An interactive map is at its center. If you plan to visit the exhibition, check the current exhibition details.

At the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, the First Light Café complements a museum visit with coffee, baked goods, sandwiches, and light meals in a waterfront setting. Opening hours may change; check the current hours before your visit.

Getting There and Planning Your Trip

Martha’s Vineyard is not connected to the mainland by bridges; visitors arrive by ferry or plane. The Steamship Authority ferry from Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard takes 45 minutes. Depending on the ferry service and route, ferries call at Vineyard Haven or Oak Bluffs. Ferries serve Vineyard Haven year-round and Oak Bluffs seasonally. Check the schedule before departure.

Martha’s Vineyard has many car-free bike paths along the ocean and through forests. The Down-Island bike network covers 44 miles, with routes and combinations that include Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown. Check the conditions on each route before riding.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Aquinnah, Tisbury, West Tisbury.

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