PROS: This park reminds me of a smaller Boston commons park! Landscaping is good, parking is free…read moreand plentiful, and it has a nice view of the water CONS: the fields are riddled with goose droppings so it's not good for field activities OVERALL: as long as you stay on the sidewalks throughout the park you'll be fine

Beautiful serene park to just take a stroll and just stop for a minute to look at the view, the…read morehouses, host a picnic, fair or walk the dog. Well maintained and in the center of Oaks Bluff near circuit. You can't miss it.

I cannot express how much i love this park! It has beautiful beaches, a lot of picnic tables,…read morepickle ball, tennis courts and more! The fort itself is stunning! I love watching a sunset here, brining my dog for a walk, or simply enjoying a beach day!

I loved this place. No Entry charge. Brought my bike with me…read moreto ride around a bit as there is a biking trail nearby called the phoenix bike path. Plenty of parking with multiple lots. They have bathrooms. I posted the hours it's open. Gazebos and benches to sit. Tennis courts and they have some pretty cool festivals here when the weather is nice. Right on the water. Sooo beautiful.

It's a park in Edgarstown that is dedicated to soldiers of the Civil War. There are cannonball and…read morecannon displays. But nothing else to do.

A park with…read more cannonballs Cannonball Park, also called Memorial Park, was dedicated on July 4th back in 1901 to memorialize the 70 island soldiers that perished in the Civil War. It's on a sliver of land between several major streets in Edgartown and is a place well known but seldom visited. The park is dominated by a huge obelisk with the names of soldiers on it as well as some cool quotes. Several large old cannon are also present as well as several stacks of big, old cannonballs which give the park it's name. Lots of trees and bushes as well as a couple of benches are in the park which makes it a nice little place for a quick rest and reflection before heading on into the center on town. Certainly not a large park, you can walk around it in a few minutes but it's fun to take some time and check out the obelisk and civil war artifacts. A cool little place that helps remember and celebrate the sacrifices made by the people of the island in preserving the nation during a horrible war.

We always visit Spohr Gardens when we are in Falmouth. It was almost our next door neighbor when…read morewe lived there. In fact Mr. Spohr was just building it then and we always stopped by to chat with him. He really enjoyed showing off his great finds to our 1-1/2 year old son who was totally engaged in what he was doing with these huge stones and iron ships' parts. For historical context, that son is now 47 years old and has come back repeatedly through his childhood and adulthood, originally with us but also on his own. His younger brother did not have the opportunity to see it then as I was only pregnant with him at the time, but he has been back with us over the years and has learned to love it too. But he has not had the opportunity to visit that area since he was finished with college and left the east coast permanently. The Gardens were left to a trust by Charles Spohr's will and the Town of Falmouth and the Trust still protect it and still use it for education. It supports itself with donations and allowing events like weddings to take place on the premises. The walk along the path on the shore of Oyster Pond is truly beautiful all times of year. The trees surrounding it in color in the fall, the swans on the lake in summer, the blooming flowers like we saw this August, are all magnificent. The anchors, the bollards, the grist stones laid out through the place, are so interesting that I still take the same pictures every time I can come here. The old dock where our son used to toss pebbles into the pond has been refurbished several times over the years and recently was rebuilt to a higher safety standard to be a perfect wedding setting. I never tire of visiting. It is free to walk in but it's nice to leave a donation by the entrance. Parking is very limited but there is a small lot and a few spaces along the residential street.

My husband surprised me with a visit here, can't believe I never knew about this beautiful space!…read moreWhat a lovely treasure these two left behind. Goals!

Before our visit to Martha's Vineyard, I did a little research on-line to determine what is worth…read moredoing during our 4-day stay. Hiking and biking are our main activities, with possibly a day of kayaking thrown in. I decided that one day of hiking would consist of hiking both the Great Rock Bight and the Menemsha Hills Reservation. I wish I had put as much time and effort into researching HOW to do the hikes as I did in selecting which hikes to do, as these trails are not so easy to find. We asked at our hotel (Pequot) for maps of hiking trails and found that they didn't have any. I drove west on N Road assuming that there would be signs for these popular hiking trails, but there were none. We made it all the way to the Menemsha Beach and parked. As we knew that the hiking trail ends at the beach, we figured it would be just as nice of a hike to start at the beach and end on the hilltop. There is a Texaco Station across the road from the end of the hiking trail and I asked them for a trail map. Can you believe not only did they not have maps, they didn't know about the hiking trail or so they said. So we winged it and began hiking from the statue of the man spearing a swordfish across the marsh and up the hill until we somehow lost the unmarked trail. We eventually came out to N Road and asked several people until we finally got lucky and asked a local on a bicycle. He directed us to take Prospect Hill Road saying it leads to the hill and the trail to the beach. We never would have guessed because of the signs that said "private property" and "no trespassing". Apparently the locals want to discourage the tourists enjoyment of this natural beauty. Once on this road we never saw any signs in English for trails, but we did see one tree that had a series of trail markers, which were useless without a map showing the key. We hiked all the way to Gosnold's Way as far as we could go. We saw some trails meandering here or there off the road, but none seemed to call to us, "this must be it". So we turned back toward N Road. Less than a quarter of a mile before we reached N Road, we noticed a steep incline on our right leading to a hilltop. It turned out to be Prospect Hill which is one of the highlights of this trail. We had unwittingly hiked miles past it. There were no signs, just one lonely bench at the summit. We rest there an hour or so and then retraced our steps back to the beach. As for beauty, the place is excellent. But the only signs are to discourage rather than help hikers. Plus I don't recall seeing anyplace on Prospect Hill Road or Gosnold's Way you can park. If you do this hike I strongly advise you to do your homework.

A hidden jewel…read more Prospect Hill in Menemsha Hills is either the highest or second highest point on the Vineyard. I'm not sure because I have heard both. It's only 300 feet high, yep it's not exactly a mountain but since the whole island is basically a glacial moraine, not bad. Heard all kinds of tales about people putting dirt and rocks on the top to keep it the highest point. As with most island tales I am somewhat skeptical but there are a bunch of boulders on the summit that do look like someone took the trouble to move them there. The entire reservation is over 200 acres and a absolutely fantastic place to hike. Anyone interesting in nature will love this place, ancient oaks, cherry trees, maples and a lot of shrubs and plants with names I'm not familiar with. Plus tons of obvious glacial evidence and debris. The whole trail is probably a little over four miles but with a lot of ups and downs. Two hills to negotiate and lots of curves and rocks to go over. Not very many flat places so the four miles is longer than it seems. Bring tick repellent because the nasty little things always seem to appreciate cool places like this. At the eastern most part of the trail you arrive at the magnificent Great Sands Cliffs, with incredible views in every direction. You can then climb or more likely slide down the slope to the beach. A great place to swim if you respect the water and don't get yourself killed. Menemsha Reservation and Prospect Hill are hidden jewels, even in the busy tourist season virtually no one goes here. The best places on the island always seem to be the ones least frequented.

Managed by the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, Parsons Reserve is a lovely location to be…read moreoutside, stretch your legs, and take in the beautiful sights and sounds of early Spring. If you visit mid-April to early May specifically, you will be rewarded with an absolute ocean of daffodils, the deep yellows, creams, and greens rolling over about an acre and a half. The bulbs of 27 different varieties of this flower have been blooming since WWII era after the land was used as commercial bulb farm. I learned all this from the very pleasant and helpful volunteers that dotted the property and were clearly enjoying the peacefulness of this location (mid morning on a weekday) as much as I was. While the property has a whole series of trails, if you're there for the flowering field, you're in luck as there is a short trail from the main parking lot that contains 50 or so spaces. I was there for both hiking and a visit to the field so I opted to park a bit further down the road at their ancillary lot that holds an additional 10 spots in the limited pull off so that I could get some additional steps in. I'm glad I did, because the land as a whole offers a small bit of elevation to get your heart pumping, as well as some well-built boardwalks, and a place to relax by one of their vernal pools. You'll catch glimpses of Destruction Brook and quiet wooded glades. The trails are well maintained and blazed (their color coded blazes even have letters on them so those who are color blind can tell the difference). I was happy to see others taking advantage of the system here after visiting the daffodils. The pièce de résistance though are certainly the daffodils and I can se why they've become so popular. As you come up over the hill to the field, there is a donation tower where you can leave your recommended $5. On the day I visited there was a small table of volunteers with information about the space as well as helpful advice re: how to enjoy your visit. They have a series of wood chipped one-way walkways that make it easy to walk about without destroying the bulbs. They do have a few other rules pertaining to professional photography but for the average visitor, it doesn't feel restrictive at all. I hear things can get a bit hectic during school vacation week and that parking can get tough since street parking is not allowed. If you can time it right though, this place is definitely worth your time. Daffodils were only listed as being in 30% bloom when I stopped by and as you can tell from the photos, even a partial bloom is a sight to see.

Crowded beach but with plenty of free parking, including electric vehicle chargers and an on-site…read morerestaurant and bar with covered patio seating. This beach is within walking distance to the downtown district, but with the intense heat you might want to rent a car or take a Lyft/Uber. I found that Lyft was much less popular on the island and thus cheaper than Uber by 50-100%.

Our captain mentioned this beach before we arrived. We did find out a head of time there were…read morepublic showers. Didn't find a lot of info. I wish it was a little better marked. We asked a number of people before we found the public showers and the changing rooms. Im not used to having that many broken shells/shells on the beach when you walk up. It was a decent crowd on the beach, still plenty of room to spread our towels out and not feel we were on top of the people next to us.

Beautiful place to walk and look for little treasures along the way. Dog friendly so be prepared…read morefor some canine interaction.

Great well manicured trails for some easy hiking. We started from the parking lot at Highfield Hall…read moreand hiked to Icehouse Pond. Trails are fairly well marked and maintained. Not exactly a challenging hike but good if you're just looking to get some steps in and enjoy nature. Don't miss the gardens at Highfield Hall as well: beautiful flowers and grounds.