Cedar Hill and Sawink Farm

SVT protected 101 acres of Sawink Farm Reservation in 1992 and protected the 88-acre drumlin of Cedar Hill in 1993.

The two properties sit within the Crane Swamp Conservation Area, which spans more than 2,225 acres of open space that straddle the borders of Northborough, Westborough, Southborough, and Marlborough. The centerpiece is a 400-acre red maple swamp, but other natural features include wooded drumlins, open fields, wet meadows, ponds, pine plantations, and oak-pine forests, as well as tributaries to the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers. 

This mosaic of habitats provides for a rich array of plants and animals, including state-listed species, interior-sensitive forest birds, and species that need to range some distance throughout the year for survival.

• Trails here connect properties owned by several state agencies.
• Wildlife species known to inhabit the area include bobcat, coyote, red fox, snowshoe hare, white-tailed deer, barred owl, ruffed grouse, American woodcock, spotted turtles, and monarch butterflies.
• At Cedar Hill, SVT is restoring an early successional shrub habitat that is beneficial to birds such as indigo bunting, eastern towhee, and blue-winged warbler. Some insects and butterflies benefit as well.
• Four small hills in the area are drumlins, or elongated hills created by glacial drift. Lands of this type were commonly used for grazing and for planting fruit trees because the soil is too stony and poorly drained for good crop production.
• The flatter, more wide-open areas of this property were once probably used as crop or hay fields.

Cedar Hill, Marlborough/Northborough

For the north entrance, take Route 495 to exit 62 (Simarano Drive exit). Continue to the lights at the end of the exit ramp. Take a left at the lights onto Simarano Drive. Continue to another set of lights and take a right onto Cedar Hill Street. Parking for the reservation is at 360 Cedar Hill Street. The entrance will be on your left across from Forest Street. There is ample parking, labeled with SVT signs, immediately on your right. A trail easement, marked by posts and SVT markers leads around the wetlands and to a kiosk behind the buildings.

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Sawink Farm, Westborough

From route 495 take the route 9 west exit 59B. Follow route 9 west approximately 1.1 miles to the route 30 east (E. Main St.) exit. Bear right onto East Main Street. Continue approximately 1 mile to Walker Street on the left. Turn left on Walker Street and continue down the hill to the SVT sign and a small parking lot on the left.

Click here to visit Google Maps for specific directions from your home.