Skeleton in the Garden

Halloween Hikes & Happenings

Grab your hiking boots and brooms — Halloween is in the air! For slightly spooky, enchanted enrichments, check out this round-up of Halloween happenings to get you in the spirit.

Waiting for the weekend like…

Sanctuaries After Dark

Enter if you dare: your favorite sanctuary adventures are back for another year of tricks and few new treats.

Boo Meadow Brook Friday, October 22 at Broad Meadow Brook in Worcester. Explore the luminary-lit trail looking high and low for hidden creatures, natural items, and costumed characters.

Into the Woods: Guided Halloween Hike Friday & Saturday, October 22 & 23 at Ipswich River in Topsfield. Take a guided, family-friendly walk into the magical forest to learn about nocturnal animals that live there. 

Halloween Night Hike & Hayride Saturday, October 23 at Wachusett Meadow in Princeton. Take an enchanted hike and hayride through Wachusett Meadow, leading to a magical campfire and Halloween treat.

Halloween Night Hike Saturday, October 30 at Arcadia in Northampton. Hike the sanctuary with our guide as you learn about the phases of the moon, nocturnal animals, and the history of Halloween.

Pumped for Pumpkins

Pumpkins as unique as the people that made them.

Pumpkin Carving Programs: Friday, October 22–Thursday, October 28 Create crooked smiles, winking faces, and memories with your family. Carve pumpkins with us and get a unique souvenir to take home at these upcoming pumpkin carving programs.

Pumpkin Science: Will a pumpkin sink or float? Bring the scientific method home with this children’s activity.

Pumpkin Bird Feeders: Don’t let that jack-o-lantern smile rot into a frown. At the end of all this pumpkin fun, repurpose your pumpkins into natural bird feeders, perfect for November bird snacking!

WILD-life

Misunderstood Animals: Tuesdays, 7:008:30 pm, starting October 26 There are a lot of animals that may seem scary, but are really just misunderstood! Bats, opossum, ravens, and wasps get a bad reputation (thanks Edgar Allen Poe) but are actually fascinating once you get to know them. Tune in for one, some, or all of this online series.

October Bird Walks: There’s something scarier than Halloween out there — and it’s missing your chance to see a target bird!

Foliage Hikes

Take in the fiery reds, burnt oranges, and bright yellows of the season as fall foliage peaks in October. Find a wildlife sanctuary trail near you, or take a day trip to a corner of the state you haven’t explored yet.

Reflections at Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk © Mass Audubon

Reflection and Acknowledgment on Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Reflections at Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk © Mass Audubon
Reflections at Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk

Over the course of Mass Audubon’s 125 years of conservation work in Massachusetts, the organization has grown to be the largest private landowner in the state. As such, it is incumbent upon us to take a thoughtful look at what it means to be a modern-day steward of the land. This is especially pertinent as we observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day and reflect on the history of the original people who stewarded the land for thousands of years before us.

To that end, we acknowledge that Mass Audubon’s wildlife sanctuaries are located on the traditional, contemporary, and unceded territories of several Indigenous nations, including the Massachusett, Mohican, Nauset, Nipmuc, Pennacook, Pocomtuc, Wabanaki, and Wampanoag. These lands were taken from the Indigenous people, creating a legacy of trauma that persists to this day.

We acknowledge that Indigenous stewardship of the land we now call Massachusetts kept its ecological communities vibrant, strong, and interconnected for thousands of years, but far from being relics of the past, Indigenous peoples, including the 37,000 individuals who currently reside in Massachusetts, are still at the forefront of environmental protection, ecological stewardship, and climate mitigation.

Mass Audubon deeply values the relationships that we have built with Indigenous people to date, but we also recognize that there is much work still to be done. Acknowledging Indigenous sovereignty and the ongoing trauma of colonialism is only the first step—and an imperfect one at that. Mass Audubon is committed to the work of learning, listening, and evolving so that we may live in “right relationship” (an Indigenous concept rooted in sustainability and respect) with the land and the people who have been its rightful stewards for thousands of years. We know this work will take persistence and time. We know we won’t get everything right on the first try, and we are open to constructive criticism. This message is more than an acknowledgment; it’s an invitation to respectful, open dialogue.

Mass Audubon was founded 125 years ago by two strong women, Minna Hall and Harriet Hemenway, who believed in speaking up for what is right, stepping up to make change happen, and initiating uncomfortable conversations—in short, they believed in making “good trouble.” Now we’re challenging ourselves to look at our work with the same critical lens so that we can do what’s right to protect the nature of Massachusetts for ALL people. It’s not only our responsibility to do this work, but our legacy.

We know that words can feel empty unless accompanied by action. Therefore, we are committed to taking the following actions to support Indigenous rights and to work in partnership with Indigenous communities:

  • Recognizing that the field of outdoor education is rife with cultural practices appropriated from Indigenous people and often lacking in authentic Indigenous representation, we commit to evaluating all our education, camp, and visitor programs for culturally appropriative practices; removing activities when necessary; and providing context and history to highlight the integral role Indigenous people play in environmental education.
  • Recognizing the loss of land experienced by Indigenous peoples, we commit to providing greater access to the lands we currently steward by offering free admission to Mass Audubon sanctuaries for all Indigenous peoples in the state.
  • Knowing that Indigenous voices, experiences, and history have too often been ignored or erased, we commit to performing scholarly research into the pre-colonial history of the lands we currently steward, with the goal of sharing this rich history with the world.

We are committed to addressing the greatest threats to nature today—habitat loss, inequitable access to nature, and climate change. The solutions to all these challenges are available to us, but we need everyone to have a seat at the table to succeed. This acknowledgment is not only a call to action; it’s a call to unity. We hope that you will join us.