Campground Review: Winter Island Park – Salem, Massachusetts

Where: Winter Island Park

50 Winter Island Road

Salem, MA 01970

phone 978-745-9430

winterisland@cove.com

www.salemweb.com/winterisland

Many people looking for a beach get-away in the Massachusetts area fight the hoards and travel to Cape Cod. The Cape Cod trip for a middle-New Englander is almost done by default. Although The Cape is nice, for my tastes it’s a bit overrated. Some of the other more popular spots include Rockport/Gloucester, Plymouth, or Newburyport. Others looking for a beach vacation may venture farther north to New Hampshire or the dramatic rocky shores of Maine. All along the North Shore (In local terms, the coast line above Boston is known as the North Shore, south of Boston is the South Shore.) are small spots that can be fun, but with less crowds (Keep in mind that this is a densely populated area. “Less crowds” does not mean zero crowds.). Salem, Massachusetts is one of those interesting North Shore spots. Rich in history (mostly infamous due to the 17th century witch trials), Salem is now a modern port town just north of Boston. Salem has embraced it’s infamous past and offers many activities exploring the sordid history of Puritanical New England. There are even two trolleys that take tourists to the different sites of Salem including the House of Seven Gables, the witch museum, and old graveyard among several others. Although rich in history, Salem is a modern town with shopping, hotels, and restaurants for every taste.
On the outskirts of Salem is a small public-owned camping area and recreation known as Winter Island Park. Winter Island has a rich history of it’s own. Before becoming a park, it was a military-owned island going as far back as the American Revolution. Signs of the military history of the island are still present today. Ammunition bunkers and an old fort can still be found on the island. Today, the primary feature of the island is a large public boat launch. The island also features a lighthouse, a public beach, a picnic pavilion, and a large playscape.
Winter Island Park is not a large park. One could likely walk across the entire park in 30 minutes. It’s not a place to go for a long hike or bike ride. However, take a leisurely stroll along the rocky shore at sunset and you can catch a nice sunset behind the lighthouse.
Camping at Winter Island Park is low maintenance. This is not a park that features tons of organized programs for the kids, or theme weekends. The attraction of Winter Island Park is the beach, rock shore, and open space to enjoy the outdoors. Many of the campers are also boaters, but there are large RV, pop-up, and tent sites available. My family and I spend Labor Day weekend (Thursday through Monday) camping with our pop-up camper at Winter Island Park. We planned on spending at least one day exploring the town of Salem. However, we were having so much fun at the campground that we ended up not venturing outside of the campground for the entire weekend. My 4-year old son spent a lot of time at the large playscape. The whole family enjoyed exploring the rocky shores looking for crabs and shells. We spent one day at the beach. We also used our kayaks to do some exploring. We even flew a kite on one particularly windy morning. We were having so much fun on the island that we never even got a chance to go fishing, although there were several fishermen on the shores near the lighthouse.
My family and I really enjoyed our weekend on Winter Island Park.

Tips:
When camping at Winter Island Park one needs to be aware of the type of camping you plan on doing. The sites right near the shore are not really campsites. They are basically parking spots on the blacktop parking lot near the boat-launch. I suppose these sites would be ok with an RV for boat owners that want to be near to their boats. However, for most campers, you’ll prefer the grass sites away from the boat launch. If you have a large RV, sites 42 to 54 are adequate. However, pop up campers would probably be best served to consider other sites. Sites 54 and 55 give the most room for campers without large RVs. I recommend site 55 for a pop up. This site has water and electricity hook-ups, and is away from the other campers. This site features an entire field in front of your site for recreation. If you have a pop-up and need to consider a site between 42 and 53, go for the corner or end sites. For tent campers, I recommend sites 57 and 36. Be careful of tent site 58 as it is close to the road and has a steep slant.
Don’t plan on relying on the small store at the park. The store mostly just sells candy and t-shirts. However, near the front gate the park sells ices at a reasonable price. It’s nice to be able to buy ice without having to leave the park.
One small negative to the park is the very large power plant that is quite visible across the bay. It visually detracts from the natural setting of the park, but other than that, it’s easily ignorable and did not impact our stay.

A Day at the Beach: Silver Sands State Park – Milford, CT

Shhhhh. Don’t let too many people know about this little known gem! I hesitated to even put this one on my blog. However, this beach certainly has room for growth.

Credit my wife for discovering this one.

My family visited Silver Sands State Park during this past Labor Day weekend, typically one of the busiest beach weekends of the year. What a different beach experience from the typical Hammonassett-Rocky Neck trip! The park was 100% free. That’s right; no parking charge, no entrance fee. There was ample parking. The beach was not crowded at all, even at mid-day.
The attitude at Silver Sands was laid back. There was none of the strict rules and pretentiousness of other beaches. If you want to fly a kite, go ahead. If you want to bring your kayaks on the beach and do some paddling, go ahead.
Silver Sands beach includes an island a short distance out. This island is accessible by foot during low tide via a sand bar adjacent to the main beach. We used our kayaks to reach the island.
There are some things you will not find as Silver Sands that are available at some of the more popular state public beaches. There is not a changing area, shower area, or bathroom. Porto-potties only. Large waves are also non-existent at Silver Sands. This is good for small children, but may be a bit of a disappointment for older children that enjoy the waves. There is also no food service available on the beach. You will need to pack your own.
Although the water and overall grounds are quite nice, the sand is not the highest quality. There are quite a few small shells that make it a little rougher than some other beaches. I suggest bringing sandals or some sort of water shoe.
Some of these features may turn some people off to Silver Sands, but for me it was a benefit. Silver Sands was a bare bones, simple, back to basics park. Low crowds, low cost, and low stress.

Silver Sands will likely replace Hammonassett as our family beach destination.

Kayaking the Housatonic River

The Facts:

What: Housatonic River
Put In: Pull off parking area near power plant just below dam in Falls Village, CT

Take Out: Housatonic Meadows State Park in Cornwall Bridge, CT (see recommendations below)

Distance: About 10 miles

My wife and I just bought two new kayaks, so we were itching to try them on on a river trip. We decided to do a 10 mile stretch on the Housatonic River. We chose this for our first trip because I am very familiar with the area being originally from this region.

We are both novices to kayaking. This was the first river trip for both of us. It was not a difficult run. The start of the trip is mostly slow moving, so your speed really depends on how hard you want to paddle. We got on the water around 11 AM, stopped for lunch at the covered bridge in West Cornwall, and made it to the the take out area around 3 PM.

The second leg of the trip (after the covered bridge) features more fast moving water. There are some moderate rapids, but certainly nothing that ever put us in any danger of tipping. We would perhaps get a little splash at the most. Even if you did tip (which again, seems remote) the river is mostly narrow and shallow. You would most likely be able to stand, and if not, it would be a short swim to shore. My point is, this trip is certainly acceptable to a novice or recreational kayaker.

We mostly had the river to ourselves, save for the occasional fly fisherman. The trip provided an excellent opportunity for bird watching. We spotted several cranes, hawks, and other assorted birds that you don't normally see at the bird feeder.

I do have one recommendation to improve the trip. Water levels were quite low for about the last mile of our trip. We got hung up on rocks several times. Perhaps it could be different in the spring, or after a heavy rain, but in late August it was an annoyance. Instead of ending at Housatonic Meadows State Park parking area, I recommend finding a spot further north to take out. There are several pull off points that fisherman use along the river on Route 7 that would serve as an adequate parking spot. I would suggest finding a spot just north of the Housatonic Meadows campground. This would reduce the length of the trip, but avoid the last mile of struggling with rocks in 12 inch deep water. The second negative of taking out at Housatonic Meadows is that there is a pretty steep bank to climb from the river to the parking area. It was not a problem for me, but I can see how some people might find it difficult to climb such a bank while trying to drag a kayak.

Despite these take out issues, it was a fun and enjoyable trip. A great day in the outdoors.

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Kayaking at Park Pond -- Winchester, CT

The Facts:
Where: Park Pond. State boat launch off RT 263 side of Blue Street.
What: Leisurely paddle around pond.
Of Note: Ample parking. Port-a-pottie in parking lot. Few people. No large motor boats.

We finally got a chance to try out our new kayaks. The family was new to kayaking, so for our first excursion we chose a calm place where we could be leisurely. Park Pond in Winchester fit the bill perfectly. Everyone had fun exploring the medium sized (by Connecticut standards) pond. The water was clear and warm. We were able to observe two turtles sunning themselves on a fallen log, as well as a family of ducks. We don't have a lot of pictures because it's always a risk bringing the camera onto the kayak. However, you might be able to tell from the two pictures posted that Park Pond is quite, with only a few cottages. On the far side there are 2 summer camps, but they did not appear to be doing any activities near the water. Overall a fun family experience.

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Lynch Park, Beverly MA

The Facts:
Where:
Lynch Park
55 Ober Street
Beverly, MA 01915
What: Beach, Picnic Area, Swimming, Fishing, Kayaking, Playground, Rose Garden
Cost: Free with Beverly resident. Parking fee for non-residents ($20) during summer

Yes, I know the name of this blog is Connecticut Outdoors. And, yes, I know Lynch Park is in Massachusetts. However, as it says in the blog description, connecticutoutdoors.blogspot.com is dedicated to outdoor recreation in Connecticut and beyond. This recently past weekend my family had the opportunity to travel to "the beyond". While visiting friends in the area we spend a leisurely morning at Lynch Park in Beverly, MA. The park offers a great chance for a relaxing day. It is not an especially large park, so it does not offer serious hiking trails. That's not what Lynch Park is all about. The park is mainly geared towards shoreline activities, picnicking, and relaxing. The park is very well kept, and there are plenty of open spaces. The park has two beaches. One is a sandier beach, and the second is a rocky beach. My son had great fun tossing rocks and hunting crabs on the rocky beach. There were kayak rentals available near the sandy beach, although it seemed like an impromptu thing, and not something you could count on being there. Lynch Park offers an excellent opportunity to explore Salem harbor by kayak. Several families took advantage of the great weather and beautiful park setting to enjoy a picnic on one of the many available picnic tables. The playground was adequate, and the flower garden was worth checking out.
Lynch Park is not a place in which you would make a dedicated trip to visit. However, if you are in the area it was a pleasant place to spend a lazy day.