Norris Reservation: A Hidden Gem in Greater Boston
Searching for a kid-friendly hike in the Greater Boston area, but aren’t quite sure where to go? Well, check out the Norris Reservation, a 129-acre Trustees of the Reservations property situated along the North River in Norwell. The hiking is easy, the scenery is great, and the kiddos will love it. Mine definitely did!
Among the highlights at Norris Reservation are the mill pond just past the parking area, a historic boathouse along the North River (which was a colonial shipbuilding center), and the lengthy boardwalk around Gordon Pond. Accessing all these sites is easy thanks to a network of flat, well-marked carriage roads on the property.
To experience everything the reservation has to offer in an approximately 2.5-mile walk, follow Eleanor’s Path out of the Dover Street parking lot, by the mill pond, and to the first junction. At the junction, follow the blue-blazed McMullan Trail left to reach the historic boathouse and river overlook. The path eventually merges with the red-blazed River Loop Trail, then heads upriver, with woodlands on one side and the North River and its tidal marsh on the other. When the river eventually makes a sharp right bend, so too does the property, and the trail heads back inland through a forest comprised of oak and pine trees much bigger than you’d expect to find on the South Shore.
As the River Loop Trail heads back toward the parking lot, it intersects the Gordon Pond Trail. This an optional half-mile loop is well worth doing. It takes hikers on a boardwalk across and around Gordon Pond and was definitely my kids’ favorite part of the hike. After the loop, simply rejoin the River Loop Trail and head back to your car. All told, the loop takes between 1 and 1.5 hours depending on how leisurely your pace is.
With so much to offer, definitely check out Norris Reservation the next time you’re looking for somewhere to take the kids hiking. There’s no charge to visit and it’s a place that we’ll definitely head back to now that we’ve “discovered” it.
Looking for more family-friendly hikes in the Greater Boston area? Check out this article I wrote for goEast about Worlds End, Great Blue Hill, and Borderland State Park as well as this one about day hikes along the Bay Circuit Trail.
