Pat T
Member
We took a nice paddle this afternoon. We put in on the Nashua River at Still River (Zip Code 01467 if you want to "Google" it). The put in is in the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, at the foot of Still River Depot Rd in Harvard, MA. We had decided to travel upstream (south) on the Nashua as far as we could go. The current was strong and there were a lot of strainers but we were able to get to what we think was the "Still River", just north of the Route 117 underpass. Occasional sounds of gunfire could be heard from the US Military firing range at Devens. The firing range is to the west of the river and is an area that you should not enter.
The current was, as I said, pretty strong and the effects of the recent flooding were easy to see. Large sandbanks had developed on both sides of the river and the numerous strainers held a wide variety of trash--a grocery cart, two tires, a pumpkin, a refrigerator, a basketball, and multiple drink containers. The current was too strong for us to safely do a litter pickup but we'll try to go back later in the season to do that. We made our way around all the obstructions but this is not a paddle for newcomers.
We went upstream for almost two hours and were able to make it back to the car in under an hour. The terrain is typical lowland river ecology. We saw lots of red maples, sycamore, shadbush, and other shrubs. Not much wildlife, just a couple of ducks. The Still River (which we think we found, but are not totally sure) was an interesting tributary of the Nashua River. Because the water level is still very high, we were able to go a good distance in an interesting red maple swamp.
All in all, this was a lovely Sunday afternoon trip. And it's amazing that this beautiful area is only an hour from downtown Boston.
Pat T
The current was, as I said, pretty strong and the effects of the recent flooding were easy to see. Large sandbanks had developed on both sides of the river and the numerous strainers held a wide variety of trash--a grocery cart, two tires, a pumpkin, a refrigerator, a basketball, and multiple drink containers. The current was too strong for us to safely do a litter pickup but we'll try to go back later in the season to do that. We made our way around all the obstructions but this is not a paddle for newcomers.
We went upstream for almost two hours and were able to make it back to the car in under an hour. The terrain is typical lowland river ecology. We saw lots of red maples, sycamore, shadbush, and other shrubs. Not much wildlife, just a couple of ducks. The Still River (which we think we found, but are not totally sure) was an interesting tributary of the Nashua River. Because the water level is still very high, we were able to go a good distance in an interesting red maple swamp.
All in all, this was a lovely Sunday afternoon trip. And it's amazing that this beautiful area is only an hour from downtown Boston.
Pat T
