Breivogel Ponds are two freshwater ponds, Upper and Lower Breivogel, connected by a narrow channel. The ponds are surrounded by woodlands, wetlands, and trails that offer opportunities for hiking, biking, fishing, and wildlife viewing.

Don’t be put off by the expanse of desert at the Breivogel Ponds Conservation Area in Hatchville. Heavy use by all-terrain vehicles until recently has prevented the natural re-growth that would generally occur in the old gravel pit, but the perimeter features Shallow Pond, an original vernal pool, two constructed ponds, and thick woods of tall pines.

Access and a parking area are at the entrance to the town’s Leaf/Compost Facility on Blacksmith Shop Road (about a mile north of Falmouth High School, on the east side of Blacksmith Shop). Follow the old road that leads to the gravel pit and around the southern edge. At the back, on the east side, are the ponds made by Carl Breivogel, the former owner. He dug the ponds to provide water for the beach grass he grew for sale to nurseries and towns. Large swathes of grass still come up in the sand. Mr. Brievogel stocked the ponds with trout and invited youngsters to fish there. Cattails and other aquatic plants line the shores.

About a third of the parcel is wooded. A path from the old gravel road on the north side of the ponds leads into the woods. The trail goes to the shore of Shallow Pond and loops back through the woods to the old open gravel mining area.

After the town purchased the property in 2000, funds were set aside to restore the open expanse of the sand and gravel mining pit. Left alone, growth would eventually come back, but Mr. Breivogel proposed a restoration plan for several different habitats and contributed to the fund. In the spring of 2016, the town Conservation Department, with assistance from The 300 Committee, at long last began the restoration process with the creation of five vernal pools in about a 2-acre area, followed by the establishment of sandplain grassland habitat on an additional 15 acres. The restoration project was guided by Tom Biebighauser, a Kentucky-based wetland ecologist who has helped develop similar vernal pool systems in other parts of Cape Cod as well as overseas.

The five vernal pools were each dug to a different depth to suit the variety of species that would be introduced there. These include Eastern spadefoot toads and spotted salamanders. Other species that the new habitats are aimed to attract include frogs, box turtles, dragonflies, and numerous bird species.

Once approved for a 32-home subdivision, the Breivogel conservation area abuts several large tracts of open space: 95 acres of the town stump dump to the south, the 52-acre town waste management facility across Blacksmith Shop Road and the 70-acre Shallow Pond Woodlands to the east.