Francis Crane Wildlife Management Area

Crane Wildlife Management Area is one of my favorite places to ride. There is so much to say about the place that this page is going to be longer than I'd like. I will try to give an overview first, then some details and then some history. I will also include some information and interesting details about Camp Edwards, the Massachusetts Military Reservation, which is also the worst pollution site in the country.

The Coonamessett Ranch was a big factor in shaping this unique area, you may find the history of this enterprise interesting.

The footing in the main area of Crane Wildlife Management Area is all but perfect, except where there has been work to alleviate the pollution that lies below the ground. The trails are interesting and the area is relatively small for the miles of trails it has. The best known section of Crane lies along Route 151 for little over a mile, from the Railroad Tracks on the North to Sandwich Road on the South, which is the entrance to Camp Edwards. It is bounded on the East and North by Camp Edwards. Camp Edwards is a National Guard Training Base but due to the extensive pollution the base has caused it is now closed for artillery practice. Jet fighter aircraft, F15's I believe, still make practice runs and the occasional C130 Transport Plane from Westover Field near Springfield, MA makes practice landings. Other than the fly overs and a little noise this has no effect on riding in Crane. A little known area of Crane is to the Southeast of the intersection of Sandwich Road and Route 151. This area is used for Quail hunting. I have seen many interesting birds here, including Scarlet Tanagers and pretty little Yellow Finches. Otherwise it's interesting but small and not usually worth the hassle to get there. You could park on Hayway Road, off Sandwich Road and explore here. It would take only 2-3 hours to ride every trail, but for a short ride it's a relaxing and interesting place to go.

Crane Wildlife Management Area is used by many different groups. Most important are the hunters who, during the different hunting seasons, use it for hunting (what a surprise). This is after all an area that was bought with funds from hunting and fishing licenses and the special tax on the sale of sporting goods. No funds from the general taxpayer are expended here or at any other Wildlife Management Area. There is NO HUNTING ALLOWED ON SUNDAYS IN MASSACHUSETTS. So, first off it's safe to ride here on any Sunday. Hunting seasons are very short and occur in the Fall. Bird Hunting is the focus of the area and that season is generally from early October to just before Thanksgiving. Another group flies model planes and I have had many enjoyable hours watching these little planes fly. Some of them look, from a distance, like the real thing.

There are many Dog Field Trials held in Crane Wildlife Management Area and you MUST NOT INTERFERE WITH THEM. They are easy to avoid by going way out and around but please do stay away. You could spoil a dog trainers whole season by showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time. They use horses for this activity, mostly Tennessee Walkers, so if you ride up to the staging area you can find out how to avoid getting into trouble with them. These folks are generally very nice and will be cooperative.

Motor vehicles are prohibited. You may see the stray motorbike but it is very rare, about once every 5 years or so. The only other vehicles I've ever seen are the Town of Falmouth Game Wardens and the State of Massachusetts Environmental Police (the Dirt Police, as I refer to them. It's easier to spell Dirt than Environmental anyway.)

Now, about riding your horse. The "main" part of Crane is almost dead flat and is a mixture of fields and scrub forest. There are some old windbreaks of Red Pine that you can ride through the center of but there are no deep forests with very tall trees. I have had 20 mile trail rides in here and never crossed the same trail. It was tricky, but possible. There are two places where you can ride around a marker and go through 3 different towns, Falmouth, Sandwich and Bourne at a stone marker in the north end and Falmouth, Bourne and Sandwich near the south end. I don't know of any other place where this is possible. Crane is actually in four towns, Falmouth, Bourne, Sandwich and Mashpee, if you go into the brush a little.

An almost unknown section of the Francis Crane Wildlife Management Area parallels the double barrel section of Route 28 going North into Bourne to the Bourne Rotary on Route 28. Here you will find riding as challenging as any, let's just say it ain't flat! There are steep hills, narrow, winding, steep trails and several spots where the views are quite breath taking. The Mountain Bike riders have created miles of new trails in here, too many for me to explore yet. Aside of the Hunters and Mountain Bikers there is no concern about bothering anyone, or being bothered. This part can be accessed by going over the Railroad tracks at the North end of Crane. There is a long wide clearing that used to be a telephone line that leads to the tracks. The trail goes north for a ways, doglegs to the west and then forks, take your pick! If youv'e ever heard me refer to the Mountains on Cape Cod, this is one of the places.

When Camp Edwards is decommissioned there is talk of turning it into a wildlife refuge. This is, in my opinion, a big mistake. As a refuge it will not be accessible to anyone. This land should become an extension of Shawme Crowell State Forest. Shawme Crowell is in Sandwich just to the north of Route 6. It is mainly a camping area and has very few trails. If this 15,000 acres were added it would become one of the biggest State Forests and serve the public much better than if it becomes a refuge. Much of it could be administered by the Division of Environmental Management as a Wildlife Management Area which would serve all of the people who seek their recreation in the Outdoors.

The Coonamessett Ranch was a cattle and sheep operation that owned and leased property all the way over to Cape Cod Bay in Sandwich and over into the Town of Barnstable. It was the biggest ranching operation that has EVER existed east of the Mississippi River. The Ranch was owned, in part at least, by foreign investors. They had their own airfield, golf course, large Polo Fields, and extensive Horticultural plantings. There were also cowboys. The way I've heard it over the years it was World War 2 that did the ranch in. Some of the foreign investors were not held in great favor in this country and after the cowboys saw the world they weren't too eager to work for next to nothing. This situation is the same as it was in the Western part of this country.