Top Secret Summer Canoeing Spots in Massachusetts

Secret summer canoeing spots in Massachusetts are real gems to folks who have learned to enjoy paddling a canoe or a kayak . They are often happy to forsake bigger, noisier environments for the sheer joy of pleasant paddling in serene surroundings. Whether the paddler is young, strongly built and ready to paddle for hours or getting along in years, less athletic and content with a half hour of paddling at a time, he or she is likely to be happy to find the way to any one of these three secret summer canoeing spots in Massachusetts and enjoy them all summer long.

Ashland Reservoir. Not everyone in Massachusetts has heard of the small town of Ashland, never mind the Ashland Reservoir. Locals know it well enough but for many others the Ashland Reservoir is a rather secret summer canoeing spot, but one that is well worth tracking down.

The Reservoir itself is on the same small scale as the town with which it shares its name. It’s about one mile in length and less than a half mile across, still it makes up for in serenity what it lacks in size. Other craft on the Reservoir are controlled by limiting them to a speed of 10 miles per hour. The setting of the Reservoir is really pristine. You can look around you and really wonder if this setting was any different a century ago. There is little sign of man or of progress, just some great stands of trees that guard the shoreline seemingly to keep it peaceful.

What is of special value about the Ashland Reservoir is that it lies inside the loop formed by Route 495 outside of Boston. This makes Ashland Reservoir accessible for folks in the Boston area. This secret summer canoeing spot has an added feature. At one end of the Reservoir is Ashland State Park . The facilities there are perfect for a post paddle picnic, a hike along one of its several wooded trails or even a cooling swim. For a small reservoir, in a small town Ashland Reservoir is a great secret summer canoeing spot in Massachusetts

Charles River, Natick, MA When you suggest to people that they try canoeing or kayaking on the Charles River the most likely image that will come to mind is that of the Charles as it flows by Cambridge, Ma and Boston. But there is also a more suburban Charles River and for some people it is their favorite secret summer canoeing spot in Massachusetts.

You can access the Charles for boating in South Natick and find that while in Boston it passes renowned institutions of higher learning, in the suburbs it winds through fragrant woodlands. As you paddle the Charles River in South Natick you will need to keep one eye on the river and one eye on the environment. You are paddling through the backyards of wildlife and birds of many varieties. With a little luck and some quiet paddling you may be rewarded with the sight of a pilleated woodpecker or some four legged friends.

Like the Ashland Reservoir, the Charles abuts a park, the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary. If you still have energy left after your paddling, you might enjoy a short walk along one of its ten miles worth of trails. The Sanctuary is supported by the Massachusetts Audubon Society and it is well kept and has lovely deep woods and great water views . Whether you are on the water paddling or in the woods you will enjoy the scenic beauty of this secret summer canoeing spot in Massachusetts

The Concord River. As the Charles is a great secret summer canoeing spot to the South of Boston, the Concord River is an equally charming secret summer canoeing spot to the West of Boston.

Most people who are drawn to spend a day in Concord, MA do so to visit the “rude bridge that arcs the flood”. That is to say they come to Concord to see where the American Revolution began. They will likely walk across the Concord Bridge but most will not recognize that beneath the bridge is a great secret summer canoeing spot in Massachusetts, the Concord River.

The river is gentle and narrow. There is a current but it is not overpowering. As you negotiate the river you cannot help but realize that on this same river men like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau took the opportunity to flex their muscles and enjoy their own secret summer canoeing spot right in their own backyard. In their writings they reflect on the enjoyment they drew from an early evening paddle along this very river. You too can enjoy that spot and feel a connection with those literary geniuses of the mid nineteenth century.

As you paddle you will come to several places where you can easily beach your craft, enjoy a lunch and the quiet of the Concord woodlands before resuming your boating. There is plenty to see and do in Concord, MA but few people enjoy the unique opportunity of paddling along the Concord River, a secret summer canoeing spot in Massachusetts

Ashland Reservoir, the suburban Charles River and the Concord River are not huge boating venues . But each has a quaintness about it that will likely please you and bring you back in summers to come. You may even put them on your own personal list of secret summer canoeing spots in Massachusetts.

Reference:

• www.trails.com