Trails & Sails 2024

Get a bird’s eye view of Gloucester and Cape Ann! Experience the WOW factor by climbing up the interior of City Hall’s clock and bell tower. Weather permitting, the views over Gloucester and Cape Ann are spectacular. Your guides will also tell you about the history of Gloucester’s most significant architectural building that has defined our skyline for over 150 years.

Hammond Castle Museum was built in the 1920s by inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr. as a home for his extensive collection of medieval artifacts and his research laboratory.Guests may explore the breathtaking building and grounds of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester and take a SELF-GUIDED tour offering new insight into the inventor that was one of the North Shore’s most dynamic residents. Guests should plan 60 minutes to explore the Museum. We look forward to your visit!

Cogswell’s Grant is a coastal farm of 165 acres located along the banks of the Essex River, just two miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. On this walking tour, explore Cogswell’s Grant’s landscape history, from the presence of indigenous people through the colonial period to the present. Walk through hayfields down to the salt marsh and the Essex River, discover the rich history of the people and families who lived and farmed here, and learn how coastal farming has evolved over the centuries. This is a rain-or-shine walk; please wear weather-appropriate clothing and footwear. Limited capacity, registration is required.

Come to Rebecca Nurse Homestead to try your hand at ancient hunting practices! The technique of using an atlatl, or spear throwing stick, is an ancient global technology. Join us, along with the Eugene Winter Chapter of Mass Archaeological Society, as they teach you the finer points about hunting in the ancient world! Stop by the Rebecca Nurse Homestead and hunt a woolly mammoth or woolly rhinoceros. Fun and educational for adults and kids of all ages. Wooly mammoth tooth and mastodon tooth and tusk will be on display along with samples of Native American Artifacts found in Danvers. This event is FREE as part of Trails & Sails! If you would like to visit the Nurse Homestead museum, paid admission is required.