Drumlin Farm is a 291 acre

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

and

wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

which is also the site of the headquarters of the

Massachusetts Audubon Society The Massachusetts Audubon Society, commonly known as Mass Audubon, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "protecting the nature of Massachusetts ...

. It is located at 208 South Great Road ( Route 117) in

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States Census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWest region o ...

. Drumlin Farm is a working farm with animals and

sustainably grown Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

crops. The sanctuary has trails through "field, forest, and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

habitat." The sanctuary was founded in 1956 when

Louise Ayer Hatheway Louise Ayer Hatheway (1876-1955) was a philanthropist, heiress and "genteel farmer" who founded Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Louise Raynor Ayer was born in 1876 to Cornelia Wheaton and Frederick Ayer, a founder of t ...

of Lowell bequeathed her estate to the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Hatheway had founded the farm years earlier as a country retreat when she bought up several smaller farms and constructed a tunnel under Route 117 to connect her house, Gordon Hall, with the farmlands. Gordon Hall currently serves as the Massachusetts Audubon Society Headquarters. The farm offers educational programs for children and adults, as well as a summer camp and an annual sheep-shearing festival.

Farm

The farmyard and its buildings, which are open to visitors, house chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, cows, horses, and other animals. Meat and produce from the farm are sold at a farm stand on the property as well as through a

Community Supported Agriculture Community-supported agriculture (CSA model) or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alterna ...

program. File:Interior_of_Red_Barn_for_cattle_at_Drumlin_Farm_Wildlife_Sanctuary_of_Audubon_Society_in_Lincoln_Massachusetts.jpg, Interior of cow barn File:Cows_at_Drumlin_Farm_Wildlife_Sanctuary_of_Audubon_Society_in_Lincoln_Massachusetts.jpg, Cows grazing File:Drumlin Farm P1100083.jpg, Visitors and piglets File:Drumlin Farm pig P1030891.jpg , Pig at the Pig Barn File:Drumlin Farm P1100088.jpg, Visitors and sheep File:Drumlin Farm P1100106.jpg, Harvest File:Drumlin Farm weeding P1030885.jpg, Weeding a field File:Drumlin Farm beets P1030889.jpg, Beets

Wildlife sanctuary

Drumlin Farm's forests and fields are crossed by 4 miles of trails, including a half-mile Farmyard Loop that is universally accessible. The Drumlin Loop Trail leads to the top of the glacial

drumlin A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated ...

for which the farm is named. The

Bay Circuit Trail The Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway or Bay Circuit is a Massachusetts rail trail and greenway connecting the outlying suburbs of Boston from Plum Island in Newburyport to Kingston Bay in Duxbury, a distance of . Landmarks include Henry David T ...

passes through the western part of the Drumlin Farm woods. The farm's Wildlife Care Center has facilities to care for injured animals that can't survive in the wild. The farm offers educational programs in wildlife care for teenagers and for college students who are considering a career in the field. File:Drumlin Farm view P1030878.jpg, View of

Mt. Wachusett Mount Wachusett is a mountain in Massachusetts. It straddles towns of Princeton and Westminster, in Worcester County. It is the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. The mountain is named after a Native American term me ...

from the drumlin File:Drumlin Farm hilltop P1030881.jpg,

Glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...

at the summit of the drumlin File:Owl at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary of Audubon Society in Lincoln Massachusetts.jpg, Injured owl at the exhibit on Bird Hill

References

External links

Drumlin Farm
Massachusetts Audubon Society
Trail map
{{Authority control Lincoln, Massachusetts Massachusetts Audubon Society Nature centers in Massachusetts Farms in Massachusetts