A Massachusetts island just opened to the public after more than 300 years

Travelers can now explore a Massachusetts island that just opened to the public after more than 300 years.

The 24-acre Sipson Island, in the heart of Cape Cod’s Pleasant Bay, was privately owned until last month when most of it was purchased by Sipson Island Trust, which aims to restore the island’s ecology, support environmental and historical education and research, and provide public recreation, according to its website. Saturday’s opening marked the first time the public was welcome on the land since it was sold by a Monomoyick leader to English colonists in 1711, according to the trust.

Visitors can now walk, hike, picnic, swim, bird watch, fish, and more on the island, which offers beaches, coastal banks, salt marsh, eelgrass beds, upland meadows, and woodland.

“The opening went fantastically!” wrote Tasia Blough, president of Sipson Island Trust, in a Facebook post. “After years of work, it was so rewarding to see families enjoying picnics on the island‘s shores, hiking the uplands, and fishing in the shallows.”

Read more: https://www.boston.com/travel/travel/2020/07/28/sipson-island-reopening