The Stony Brook Grist Mill and Museum is a favorite stopping place for locals and visitors. The beautiful spot, featuring a sparkling brook and picturesque mill, is both scenic and historical. The Grist Mill is the only remaining structure from Brewster’s Factory Village, a bustling 19th-century industrial area. The restored mill is open every Saturday in the summer. Visitors can see the water wheel in motion and purchase fresh ground corn meal. The upstairs museum features artifacts of 19th-century Cape Cod life, weaving demonstrations, and much more. Visitors strolling the footpaths might happen upon basking turtles, spot a heron flying overhead, see dragonflies hovering over the mill pond, or see a variety of fish in the brook. The mill site is a Brewster treasure.

In the spring, the annual alewife migration up the fish ladders of Stony Brook is awe-inspiring and was the subject of The Run, a nature classic written by John Hay. Footpaths along the edges of the brook are a wonderful vantage point to view the fish, which journey from Cape Cod Bay to the freshwater ponds of West Brewster to spawn. The herring run starts in mid-March (depending on air and water temperatures) and continues through early May.

The Grist Mill and Museum are open every Saturday in July and August from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Admission is free. Fresh cornmeal is available for purchase.

From US-6 (Mid-Cape Highway): Take exit 10 (Brewster/Harwich), and follow MA-124N toward Brewster. Turn left at the first traffic light, and proceed to the intersection with MA-6A. Turn left onto MA-6A and proceed approximately 1 mile to the blinking yellow light. Bear left at the blinking light onto Stony Brook Road. Parking for the Gristmill and Herring Run will be about 0.75 miles on your right. For the safety of you and your group, visitors are urged to use the crosswalk as this section of Stony Brook Road is very busy.