Ask island locals on the west end where they walked this morning and many will say "Sanford Farm." Ask which trail, and the answers scatter. That is because the shorthand covers four properties owned by two different organizations, stitched together into a single 780-acre walking system with three signed loops and a fourth back door most people drive past without noticing.
Once you know which parcel you are standing on, the walk changes. The grasses underfoot are managed differently. The rules about dogs shift. The history on the interpretive plaques belongs to different centuries. This is a guide for people who already live at the west end and want to stop treating the trailhead on Madaket Road as one undifferentiated green blob.
One trailhead, two landlords, four parcels
The main lot on Madaket Road drops you onto a property that began in 1985, when the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and the Nantucket Islands Land Bank Commission jointly purchased 300 acres once owned by Mrs. Anne W. Sanford from the beneficiaries of her estate for $4.4 million, with the western 166.5 acres going to the Land Bank and 133.5 acres going to the Foundation. That split ownership is invisible on the ground because the trails were designed to feel continuous, but it explains why some sections are mowed on different schedules and why the trail markers change style at certain crossings.
South of Sanford Farm proper sits Ram Pasture, acquired in 1971 and once used for grazing rams to manage breeding seasons. South of that lies The Woods. Together those three parcels form the 780-acre conservation area everyone calls Sanford Farm. Then, running west and abutting all of it, is Head of the Plains, a vast corridor of more than 1,000 acres jointly owned by the Land Bank and the Foundation, containing sandplain grasslands and heathlands, shrub thickets, wetlands, and woodland habitats. Different entrance, different feel, same walking network if you plan for it.
For context on scale, the Foundation alone owns, protects, and stewards over 9,000 acres of land and coastal shoreline across the island. Sanford Farm is the property most residents actually put footsteps on.
Reading the Northern Loop marker by marker
The shortest of the three named routes is the Northern Loop. On paper it is 1.7 miles, leading south from the parking area and turning back toward the North Head of Hummock Pond. On foot it is the walk you can do before work and the one that teaches you what to look at on the longer routes.
The loop follows numbered markers and interpretive signs detailing significant historic, geologic, and natural features, with the Northern Loop covering markers 1 through 13. A few features worth slowing down for:
- The remains of a silo on a small hill on the western side of the property, marking the former location of a barn and farmhouse from when this was an operating dairy farm until the early 1920s.
- The North Head of Hummock Pond, visible from the higher ground before the trail bends back.
- The first stretch of sandplain grassland, which becomes the dominant habitat once you continue south past marker 13 toward Ram Pasture.
The trail surface is a mix of firm packed dirt and sand, and one modest rise near the center of the property is a terminal moraine left by the same glacier that shaped everything from Coatue to Miacomet.
The Barn Walk is the underrated middle distance
Most residents alternate between the quick loop and the full march to the ocean. The 3.1-mile Barn Walk gets skipped, which is a mistake in high summer when the six-mile round trip feels like too much sun exposure.
The Barn Walk goes approximately halfway to the ocean from the parking area and turns around at the historic barn. That barn sits on a rise near the middle of the property on a hill that offers excellent views of the southern part of the property. From there you can see the Ram Pasture grassland opening up toward the water without having to walk another two hours to reach it. On a hot August afternoon that vantage is the entire point.
Ocean Walk versus Head of the Plains: two ways to reach the south shore
If the goal is the undeveloped southern beach, there are two ways in, and they suit different mornings.
Route | Distance | Access | What you see |
|---|---|---|---|
Ocean Walk | 6 miles round trip from the Madaket Road lot | Main Sanford Farm trailhead | Silo, dairy remnants, historic barn on the hill, Ram Pasture grassland, then the beach |
Head of the Plains | Variable, many pull-offs | Red Barn Road from Madaket or Barrett Farm Road off Madaket Road | Open sandplain grassland, harrier habitat, wildflower rarities, sunset views across Clark's Cove |
The Ocean Walk is the narrative walk. You pass through the working history of the property in sequence. Head of the Plains is the ecological walk. It is home to some of the best examples of sandplain grassland on Nantucket, provides nesting and hunting habitat for northern harriers, an endangered bird of prey, and contains rare plant species such as New England blazing star, sandplain blue-eyed grass, and bushy rockrose. That habitat is not accidental. Today, this ecosystem is maintained through a combination of habitat management strategies including routine mowing and prescribed burns.
If you have driven the Madaket Road at dusk in late summer and seen smoke on the horizon, that is often what you were looking at.
What the Foundation is running this month
The Foundation offers year-round free programming that most residents forget exists once they have their own routine. Two on the August 2026 calendar are worth a look:
- August 3, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. A visiting botanist talk on Emily Dickinson's Herbarium and the Wildflowers of Amherst, at the Nantucket Conservation Foundation Office, 118 Cliff Road.
- August 5, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. An Ecology Excursion Forest Management Walk. If you have wondered why certain stands look thinned or scorched, this is the walk that explains it.
The Weekly Walk at Ram Pasture is the one to know for out-of-town guests. It covers 2.5 miles across the southernmost end of the Sanford Farm and Ram Pasture property, with views of the ocean and open grasslands in bloom, plus commentary on the rare and endangered species that thrive with the Foundation's protection and management. It is free.
For a broader look at the ecology, the Nantucket Land and Water Council runs a separate program of free downtown tree tours led by Nantucket Waterkeeper RJ Turcotte, whose combined biology and island history knowledge generates interesting conversations and surprising questions. Different property, same instinct.
Things residents wish everyone knew
A short list from years of walking the loops:
- Trails are open dawn to dusk. There are no restrooms. There is an information kiosk at the main trailhead and that is the extent of the facilities.
- The Foundation maintains the Northern Loop as open year-round with dogs welcome and off-leash allowed in some areas. The longer Ocean Walk route is a different rule set, where dogs are allowed but must remain on a leash. Check the signs at the trailhead rather than assuming.
- The ACK Trails app is the fastest way to sort out which parcel you are on when the signage changes. Head of the Plains is a Land Bank property with its own marker post system, distinct from the Foundation's numbered plaques.
- Access to Head of the Plains has no formal lot. There are many areas to pull over and park but no restroom facilities. Do not block Barrett Farm Road.
- Trail surfaces are mixed dirt, grass, and sand. After a heavy summer rain the southern stretches near Ram Pasture hold water longer than the northern half. Footwear matters more than most guidebooks admit.
The point of knowing all this is not trivia. It is that a west-end walk on a Tuesday in August can be a twenty-minute grassland loop, a two-hour barn round trip, or a four-hour ocean commitment, and the same trailhead accommodates all three without ever making you choose in advance. That flexibility is one of the quiet reasons Madaket keeps its hold on people who move here. The rest of the island's conservation is spectacular. This one is close to home.
If you are thinking about what it means to live within walking or biking distance of a trail system like this, or how a property's proximity to the Sanford Farm lot or Head of the Plains access affects its day-to-day feel, we are happy to walk you through it. Reach out to Robin Slick for a conversation grounded in the west end as it is actually lived.
