Useful Stuff: MA Public Beaches

Along with Castle Hill and the Crane Wildlife Refuge, Crane Beach was once part of the vast early 20th-century summer estate of Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr. The white sands of Crane Beach stretch for miles along both sides of Castle Neck, forming one of the most picturesque swimming beaches in all of New England. Crane Beach also provides important habitat for myriad wildlife and is an important natural barrier that protects the Essex River Estuary and its inland communities.

Cochituate State Park is a popular regional day use park featuring water based recreational opportunities including boating, swimming, windsurfing, and fishing on its three large lakes. Picnicking, swimming, andboat launching are limited to the main area of the park on the middle lake and boaters can gain access to the other lakes through channels under roadways.

Open year round, dawn to dusk. Boat ramps provide public access to Lynn Harbor. Public swimming at Long Beach and King's Beach. Fee for parking at Long Beach, 8:00am - 5:00pm, May - Sept. An expansive seascape can be viewed from over four miles of waterfront that is managed under public ownership. A promenade extends along the two-mile length of the two reservations at the edge of Nahant Bay and is available year round for activities such as walking, jogging and bicycling. Vast areas of hard-packed sand are exposed at low tide which can be accessed at King's Beach and Long Beach on Nahant Bay as well as near the boat launching area on Lynn Harbor. Other interesting natural features include a mile-long system of fragile sand dunes parallel to Long Beach, and tide pools at Red Rock Park that are often filled with colorful marine plants and animals.

Salisbury Beach is one of the state's most popular ocean beaches stretching for 3.8 miles along the Atlantic Ocean. This 521-acre park offers swimming, boating, fishing and camping, and is very popular with trailer campers. Facilities include a 484-site campground with renovated bathhouses, an extensive day-use parking lot, three new comfort stations for the beach going public with over the dune boardwalks, and a new playground and pavilion area. The facility also has two boat ramps that are located on the Merrimack River at the campground's southern edge.

Harold Parker State Forest, which lies in Andover, North Andover, North Reading and Middleton, comprises just over 3,000 acres of Central Hardwood-Hemlock-White Pine type of forest. The forest is twenty miles north of Boston and within one hour's drive of three million people. Recreational opportunities include hiking, mountain biking, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, swimming, camping and picnicking. The forest has over 35 miles of logging roads and trails and offers quiet seclusion to off-road hikers and bikers. Non-motorized boating is allowed on any of the 11 ponds. No horse, boat or bike rentals are available at the facility.

Open year-round, dawn to dusk. Breakheart Reservation is a 640-acre hardwood forest with jagged, rocky outcroppings, two fresh-water lakes, and a rambling section of the Saugus River. Seven rocky hills, over 200 feet high, provide vistas of Boston, southern New Hampshire and central Massachusetts. An extensive trail system through the woodlands guides visitors to various areas of the reservation. Fishing in Silver and Pearce Lakes, hiking the trails and birdwatching by the Saugus River are popular year-round activities. The supervised swimming area at Pearce Lake, one of the few fresh- water swimming spots north of Boston, draws crowds in the summer. In addition to its natural resources, the reservation has a rich cultural history.