Mass Audubon Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary

Mass Audubon Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary Long Pasture's two and a half miles of trails wander through several Cape Cod habitats.
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Long Pasture is the home of Mass Audubon's Mid-Upper Cape wildlife sanctuaries and the Coastal Waterbird Program, our public sanctuaries include Long Pasture, Ashumet Holly, and Skunknett River.

Once rare on Cape Cod, Purple Martins are making a comeback—thanks to dedicated conservation efforts. The colony at the ...
06/07/2026

Once rare on Cape Cod, Purple Martins are making a comeback—thanks to dedicated conservation efforts. The colony at the sanctuary is truly a sight to behold!

Looking for a fun way to connect with the natural world of Cape Cod? We’ve got you covered! 🌿📅 Friday, June 5 | 9:30–10:...
06/05/2026

Looking for a fun way to connect with the natural world of Cape Cod? We’ve got you covered! 🌿

📅 Friday, June 5 | 9:30–10:30 am
Nesting Coastal Birds

📅 Saturday, June 6 | 7:00–9:00 am
Early Bird Walk at Long Pasture

📅 Saturday, June 6 | 10:00 am–12:00 pm
In Search of Horseshoe Crabs

Spots fill quickly—save yours today: massaudubon.org/longpastureprograms

📸: Cheryl Rose

06/04/2026

Calling all photographers: submissions are officially open for our 2026 Picture This photo contest!

You have from now until September 30 to submit your best photos that highlight people in nature, capture the beauty of Massachusetts wildlife, or celebrate our stunning landscapes.
Learn more, read the rules, and enter: massaudubon.org/photocontest

© Michelle Reinemann, People in Nature

Last chance for Wildlife on Tap! 🍻🐸Built for a Toad: How Restoring Wetlands Brings Wildlife Back📅 Wednesday, June 10 | 6...
06/02/2026

Last chance for Wildlife on Tap! 🍻🐸

Built for a Toad: How Restoring Wetlands Brings Wildlife Back
📅 Wednesday, June 10 | 6:30–8:30 pm
🎤 Featuring Ian Ives, Mass Audubon

Discover how wetland restoration is bringing vernal pools back to life—and giving the Eastern spadefoot toad a second chance on Cape Cod. It’s conservation in action, reconnecting people, wildlife, and the landscapes we all depend on.

🎟 Save your spot: massaudubon.org/programs/long-pasture/101423-wildlife-on-tap-built-for-a-toad-how-restoring-wetlands-brings-wildlife-back

06/01/2026

What does the migration journey of a Wood Thrush look like?

Using data from Motus towers across the continent, we can see the approximate paths of individual birds like this one, who travel around 2,000 miles from Central America to Massachusetts each spring.

These special towers, including those located at Mass Audubon Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm, Mass Audubon Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mass Audubon Wachusett Meadow, ping whenever a tagged bird passes nearby. This information helps researchers better understand migration patterns, behavior, and habitat. Now that they've arrived, they'll be with us breeding and raising young until early fall, when they'll begin to make the journey back south.

Learn more about Wood Thrushes, the species we went wild for this May: https://www.massaudubon.org/nature-wildlife/go-wild-for-wildlife/go-wild-for-wood-thrush

Happy Pride Month! Nature is for everyone. No matter who you are or how you identify, the natural world welcomes you wit...
06/01/2026

Happy Pride Month!

Nature is for everyone. No matter who you are or how you identify, the natural world welcomes you with open arms 🌈🌳

This Pride Month, be you by getting outdoors, celebrating with your friends and family, and joining one of Mass Audubon’s Pride programs across the state. Learn more about the festivities: massaudubon.org/pride

Mark your calendar! 🌿 Celebrate the 2026 Cape Cod ADA Anniversary at Long Pasture—where nature meets accessibility.📅 Wed...
05/29/2026

Mark your calendar! 🌿 Celebrate the 2026 Cape Cod ADA Anniversary at Long Pasture—where nature meets accessibility.

📅 Wednesday, July 29 | 4:00–7:00 pm

Take a guided walk along the All Persons Trail, explore a community resource fair, and get hands-on with adaptive sports gear and accessible gardening tools. This uplifting evening highlights the innovations and supports that help make the outdoors welcoming for all.

Get the details: https://www.massaudubon.org/places-to-explore/wildlife-sanctuaries/long-pasture/news/2026-cape-cod-ada-anniversary-celebration

There’s nothing like spring at the sanctuary—longer days, vibrant trails, and wildlife waking up all around you. Come ex...
05/27/2026

There’s nothing like spring at the sanctuary—longer days, vibrant trails, and wildlife waking up all around you. Come experience it for yourself.

Plan your visit: massaudubon.org/longpasture

Have you ever discovered something on the beach you couldn’t identify? Here’s your chance to get answers! From seashore ...
05/24/2026

Have you ever discovered something on the beach you couldn’t identify? Here’s your chance to get answers! From seashore rambles to horseshoe crab adventures, our naturalists will guide you to the best spots and share fascinating insights about the creatures of the intertidal zone.

Find your next adventure: massaudubon.org/longpastureprograms

05/22/2026

Help Us Track Cape Cod’s Blue Mussel Story - For decades, blue mussels were one of the most familiar sights on New England’s rocky shores. They formed dense beds along intertidal shorelines, jetties, pilings, and other hard surfaces, creating habitat for small marine life and providing food for fish, birds, and other coastal species.

However, across the region, scientists have documented major declines in wild blue mussel populations over the past several decades. In some places where mussel beds were once thick and widespread, they are now sparse or nearly absent.

Blue mussels are considered a foundation species because they help shape the intertidal community around them. Mussel beds provide shelter for small marine animals, serve as an important food source, and help filter coastal waters.

When mussels disappear, the shoreline community changes with them.

The causes of these declines are complex. Warming air and water temperatures, predation from invasive European green crabs, pollution, storm impacts, and other changing coastal conditions may all play a role. One of the biggest challenges to tracking the decline is understanding where mussels were historically abundant, where they remain today, and where people have noticed changes over time.

To help fill those gaps, the five regions of the MassBays National Estuary Partnership are working together to track blue mussel abundance across Massachusetts. As the MassBays Regional Coordinator for Cape Cod, APCC is gathering both current observations and anecdotal information about blue mussels in our region. We are asking residents, shellfishermen, municipal staff, beach walkers, boaters, fishermen, naturalists, and anyone with knowledge of local shorelines to share what they have seen.

Have you noticed blue mussels in your area? Do you remember places where mussels used to be more common? Have you seen changes along a favorite beach, harbor, jetty, rocky shoreline, or dock?

Please consider taking a brief survey to help us better understand Cape Cod’s blue mussel history and current distribution.

Take the survey! https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/c46d846e258a48b3bbbaf9cf4dce2a0c

Your observations can help provide important local context and guide future monitoring, research, and restoration efforts across Cape Cod and Massachusetts.

Address

345 Bone Hill Rd
Barnstable, MA
02637

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 3pm
Saturday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+15083627475

Website

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