Stavros Reservation

At Stavros Reservation , visitors enjoy an easy ascent to a coastal hilltop that rewards you with panoramic views of Crane Beach and the Essex River estuary. While most of this reservation protects more than 50 acres of salt marsh, its most popular feature is Whites Hill, a coastal drumlin that offers unobstructed views of Crane Beach, the Crane Wildlife Refuge, and Halibut Point. A 3/4-mile loop trail leads you along a field and up the hillside to a broad, open meadow. Here stands the fieldstone base of a 50-foot, three-level tower built by Lamont G. Burnham in the 1880s. As you loop back down the hill, you’ll trek through a thicket of Devil’s walking stick, broken only by a small hillside clearing that offers views over the salt marshes to Castle Hill. Bird Species of Note: The top of Whites Hill is an excellent place to view herons and raptors in the vast salt marsh before you, especially with a spotting scope. Many herons use the Essex marshes for feeding on their way to and from their nesting colonies on offshore islands. The hill also attracts songbirds in migration. A drive down Island Rd. brings one to salt pans where herons and shorebirds can be viewed much more closely. Special Recognition: Massachusetts Important Bird Area; Great Marsh Important Bird Area; Western Hemispheric Shore Bird Reserve Network Regional Site.