Salt marsh and tidal creek in the Great Marsh, the largest contiguous stretch of salt marsh in New England. | Photograph by Danita Delimont / Alamy

For Sixteen Days This September, Essex Heritage’s Trails & Sails Turns the Landmarks You Drive Past Every Day Into More Than Two Hundred Free Things To Do

Sarah ShemkusSeptember 18, 2026

Anyone who lives on the North Shore regularly drives by historic landmarks and stunningly beautiful natural sights. Too often, though, we drive right past them, caught up in errands to run and appointments to keep. The Essex National Heritage Area’s Trails & Sails event, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is designed to get locals to slow down and visit these destinations we so often pass by and so rarely explore. Over the course of sixteen days, more than two hundred planned activities will give people the opportunity to sail on a historic schooner, learn about the artists who have created in the country’s oldest working

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For Sixteen Days This September, Essex Heritage’s Trails & Sails Turns the Landmarks You Drive Past Every Day Into More Than Two Hundred Free Things To Do

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