Eaton Preserve

Property Address: 132 Blacksmith Shop Road, West Falmouth (no parking here)

A conservation area that started with seven acres in 1986, when The 300 Committee was established, was expanded to 20.4 acres in 2007, thanks to a bequest from its long-time steward. Betty Eaton, who died in 2006, loved the trails that wound through the woods and along the old stone walls of the Mock Moraine conservation area off Blacksmith Shop Road in West Falmouth. She created small signs that still exist to mark the various paths. It was her hope that her bequest could be used to preserve more land nearby.

Fortuitously, the year after Betty’s death, The 300 Committee was able to buy 6.3 acres abutting the Mock Moraine area to the south. The parcel has access from the Mock Moraine and from a narrow strip of land at the top of Blacksmith Shop Road. There is no parking at the access path. Visitors may park at Swift Park (the West Falmouth ballfield and tennis courts) on Blacksmith Shop Road or at the small parking area for the Mock Moraine Trails on Stagecoach Way, which is just north of the West Falmouth Market on Route 28A. (The parking area on Stagecoach Way is up the hill about 1/4 mile on the left.)