Masconomet Field & Woods
Sagamore Hill Trail Connects to Conserved Land
The property features a trail that connects to more than 500 acres of conserved land and four miles of trails at Greenbelt’s John J. Donovan/Sagamore Hill Conservation Area.
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Location, Directions & Parking
- Nasco Road, Hamilton (Opens in Google Maps)
There is a large parking lot adjacent to the field.
The 52-acre property is owned by the Town of Hamilton with a Greenbelt Conservation Restriction.
There is an Essex County Trails Association easement on the trail that connects Donovan Fields to the Sagamore Hill Conservation Area.
Walking, jogging, skiing and horseback riding are welcomed, but bicycles are not permitted on the trail which is accessible year-around.
Indigenous people known as the Pawtucket or Agawam were living, farming, and fishing in this area at the time of European contact. Nearby Sagamore Hill was the last home and burial site of Masconomet (Masquenominet), his wife, and unknown others of his band. He was the Pawtucket sagamore of Greater Agawam at the time of English settlement.
It’s a good location for birding where Eastern Bluebirds with their bright plumage can be found.
Deer, coyote, red fox, fisher and turkey are abundant in the area. Great-horned and barred owls can be seen and heard with patience and diligence.
Nearby Sagamore Hill is the last home and burial site of Masconomet (Masquenominet), his wife, and unknown others of his band. He was the Pawtucket sagamore of Greater Agawam at the time of English settlement. Please respect these sacred grounds.
Masconomet met Governor John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 aboard the Arbella. In 1637 and 1638 the Sagamore sold Castle Hill, his farm on present-day Argilla Road in Ipswich, his fort on the Castle Neck River, and the rest of Greater Agawam to John Winthrop Jr. in gratitude for English help in repelling attacks by Pawtucket enemies from the north.
In 1644 Masconomet and other leaders from Essex County and northern Middlesex County signed an oath of allegiance to the English Crown and agreed to become Christians, obey English laws, and remain neutral in any future conflicts. Masconomet, who died in 1658 and was given a Christian burial, has living descendants today.
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Land Acknowledgment
The properties that Greenbelt conserves are on the ancestral lands of the Pennacook and the Pawtucket, bands of Abenaki-speaking people. Join us in honoring the elders who lived here before, the Indigenous descendants today and the generations to come. Learn more…
Conservation Partners
