About Moose Hill Farm

347 acres

Follow a loop trail that leads from the farmstead through restored woodlands to hillside hayfields, where you’ll enjoy views of Great Blue Hill and the Boston skyline.

What makes Moose Hill Farm a special place?
Visitors can both enjoy the varied, expansive grounds of this former “gentleman’s farm,” and educate themselves about its agricultural history by exploring cellar holes and tracing stone walls built by centuries of farm labor. Traverse open fields cleared by ox and plow, later “mown” by herds of sheep, and, well into the 20th century, trod by dairy cows.

Between Boston and Providence, only Great Blue Hill, at 635 feet, is taller than 466-foot Moose Hill. The hill's impressive elevation, and the fact that it is located near what once was considered the informal “border” between the Massachusetts and Wampanoag Indian tribes, may have meant it played a strategic role in the cultural and political interplay of indigenous people.

Its height also guarantees terrific views of the Boston skyline and the Neponset River Valley from the upper hayfield.

Two-miles of trails lead to summit fields, where grassland birds are again finding a home. The reservation's wooded hillsides still shelter some mature specimens of the American chestnut tree, a a species that used to dominate forests in the eastern United States until it was it was nearly exterminated by a bark fungus. Look for the trees' familiar, spiny-husked nuts, which traditionally nourished wild turkey and white-tailed deer, both of which you will still see in large numbers at the farm today.

The opportunities for outdoor recreation here maintain a community tradition dating back 150 years. Even as the town’s agriculture was waning in response to Americans moving west, civic fathers seized upon the public's emerging desire for leisure and healthful pursuits by opening a hotel and other tourist attractions on nearby Lake Massapoag. The elevation, crisp breezes and clean waters of the local environment were considered beneficial, even restorative; a sanatorium for lung disease patients was built, and soon Sharon was a destination for pastoral pursuits.

Trails
3.5 miles of trails through meadow and woodlands.

Regulations & Advisories

• Hunting is prohibited except with prior written permission of the Superintendent.
  
  
• Dogs are permitted at Moose Hill Farm with a Green Dog Permit.

Directions

396 Moose Hill Street
Sharon, MA
Telephone: 781.784.0567
Email: seregion@ttor.org

Get directions on Google Maps.

From I-95 South: Exit 10, left on Coney Street, right on High Plain Street, then left on Moose Hill Street. Reservation on right.

Admission

When to Visit
Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset.

Admission
Members: FREE. Nonmembers: Adult: $4, Children under 12: FREE.

Property History

In 1904, a young entrepreneur named Henry P. Kendall took over his uncle's failing cotton batting factory on the banks of the Neponset River in Walpole. During his lifetime, he transformed the factory into the large, multi-national Kendall Company. Mr. Kendall’s success enabled him to acquire and protect Moose Hill Farm, which housed a Guernsey dairy herd in the 1940’s, along with thousands of acres of woodlands in Sharon.

Moose Hill Farm's diverse landscape reveals how people have impacted the landscape during the past several centuries. Woodlands shelter mature American chestnuts, despite the blight that nearly wiped out this once dominant eastern forest presence. Cellar holes, foundation edges, stone walls, and open fields reflect agricultural trends in Massachusetts, which evolved from homestead to sheep farm to dairy during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Property Acquisition History
Moose Hill Farm was acquired by a gift from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation LLC on March 30, 2005.

Programs

Rooms in Time Quest
Use the rhyming clues and map to find a hidden treasure and story at Moose Hill Farm. Along the way you’ll have fun, and learn to see (and read) clues about how land has been used here at Moose Hill Farm. At the end of this Quest you’ll find a hidden treasure box, where you can sign in, collect a copy of our Quest’s stamp, and then replace the box for the next visitor.

Green Dogs Program
The Trustees created the Green Dogs program to enhance the quality of our visitors' experience – for dog walkers and non-dog walkers alike – and provide a welcoming, comfortable, healthy environment for dogs, their owners, and all other visits.

Learn more: Download a Green Dogs application and Green Dogs Rules & Regulations.

Volunteer Opportunities

Work Parties

Maps and Resources

Printed trail maps are distributed free from the bulletin board in the parking area. Please understand that supplies periodically run out. We recommend that you download a trail map before you visit.

Planning Your Visit

Before You Go
We encourage you to visit as many Trustees properties as you can.

Wherever your travels take you, please observe all posted regulations, follow special instructions from property staff, and keep in mind the Stewardship Code:

• Protect wildlife and plants.
• Guard against all risk of fire.
• Help keep air and water clean.
• Carry out what you carry in.
• Use marked footpaths and bridle paths.
• Leave livestock, crops, and machinery alone.
• Respect the privacy of neighboring land.
• Enjoy and share the landscape with others.

Click on links below for further visitor information:

Before Setting Out

Enjoying Trustees Reservations

Safety

About Hunting on Trustees of Reservations Land

Tell Us What You Think

We’d love to hear about your visit. Click here to take our visitor survey. If you have a question for us about this reservation, you can use this form to send it to us, too.

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