Crane Wildlife Refuge on the Crane Estate

This mix of salt marsh and coastal islands is perfect for kayakers and other boaters, who can also follow trails that explore Choate Island and Long Island.

Access by private watercraft only. Boaters and kayakers must land on or adjacent to the dock on Long Island.

Along with Castle Hill and Crane Beach, the Crane Wildlife Refuge was once part of the vast early 20th century summer estate of Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr. The Refuge is a patchwork of coastal and island habitats that includes a portion of Castle Neck and seven islands in the Essex River Estuary (Choate, Long, Dean, Dilly, Pine, Patterson, and Round). Surrounding the Crane Wildlife Refuge is the Great Marsh, the largest contiguous salt marsh in New England, covering more than 25,000 acres from Hampton Harbor, NH, to Gloucester.