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Short Cove Preserve

Dog Policy

Size

91.1acres

Description

As a result of the land bank’s acquisition here — paired with a donation of a conservation restriction made to the Trustees of Reservations many years ago by the neighboring family over its land — the entirety of the Short Cove of the Tisbury Great Pond has now been conserved. This cove, a third of a mile long, typifies the subtle and serene nature of the Vineyard’s riparian lowlands. Stretching along the shore between it and the Pear Tree Cove is a privately-owned 25-acre sheep pasture, conserved via an agricultural preservation restriction. Hikers should prepare for a long trek: having commenced at the Tiah’s Cove Road trailhead and peregrinated along the pastures, beside the cove, against the great-pond and back once again to the trailhead one will have tallied nearly two miles.

Universal Access

  • Difficulty rating: Moderate
  • Trail: Park in the universal access trailhead at end of road appearing as dashed yellow line on property map. Follow trail along cove. 
  • Points of Interest: Short Cove and Tisbury Great Pond
  • Benches: 

Access

Start at the intersection of New Lane and the Edgartown Road. Travel 0.75 miles down New Lane — it changes its name to Tiah’s Cove Road, but just stay on the asphalt throughout — and turn right into the trailhead.

Historical Highlights

  • located at the southeastern tip of “Great Neck” as it was named during the settlement of West Tisbury
  • in the late 1800s the land was owned by James and Prudence Look, who is credited as the “founding mother of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital”
  • in 1938 the land was purchased by Arnold Fischer, who created Flat Point Farm here

Trail / Property Map