MASSACHUSETTS - South of Boston/Plymouth

Ames Nowell is a year-round day use area with recreational activity centered around Cleveland Pond which is popular with boaters and fisherman. Development includes a picnic area, ball field and several miles of trails along the pond edge and the surrounding woods. Recreational uses: non-motorized boating; canoeing, fishing, group day use, horseback riding, mountain biking, picnicking, restrooms, cross country skiing, walking trails.

Borderland is one of the most historically significant tracts of publicly owned land in the Commonwealth. Created in the early 1900s by artist and suffragist Blanche Ames and her botanist husband Oakes, Borderland offers many of the same pleasures that the Ames family enjoyed: walking and horseback riding on woodland trails, fishing and canoeing in the ponds, or, in winter, ice-skating and sledding.

A "glacial erratic" boulder known as Dighton Rock once rested on the shore of the Taunton River adjacent to this park. Covered with petroglyphs, the rock is now installed in a small museum. The museum (open only by appointment) exhibits several explanations of the carvings, which range from Portuguese explorers to Native Americans. The park, which covers 85 acres in the town of Berkley, is a popular local picnic spot. The park is open 7 days a week. The museum is open by appointment only.
Recreational opportunities: nonmotorized boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking, historic site, mountain biking, picnicking, restrooms, skiing (cross-country), walking trails.

Ellisville Harbor is a unique coastal property, including an 18th century farmstead, beachfront, salt marsh, rolling meadows, and red pine forest. It's also one of the most scenic spots on the South Shore coastline, where you can see small fishing boats, a barrier beach, sphagnum bog, forested upland and open meadows. Recreation activities include walking, bird watching, beach combing, sightseeing, fishing, and cross-country skiing. In fall and winter, harbor seals can often be seen just off-shore.

Freetown State Forest is a vast tract of public land. Near the main entrance is a day use area, with wading pool, picnic area, fields and restrooms. The remainder of the forest offers 50 miles of unpaved roads and trails. Horseback riders, dog sledders, mountain bikers, and seasonal motorcycle and snowmobile users are welcome, as are hunters and anglers in season. Rattlesnake Brook, which meanders throughout much of the property, is stocked with brook trout each spring. Profile Rock is a 50-foot outcropping. The 5,441-acre forest also includes the Watuppa Reservation, which belongs to the Wampanoag Nation, and is the site of annual tribal meetings.
Recreational opportunities: fishing, hiking, historic site, horseback riding trails, hunting (restrictions), mountain biking, off-road vehicles, picnicking, scenic viewing area, skiing (cross-country), walking trails.

This 1,500 acre park features canoeing and boating areas, swimming and fishing. Hiking and cross-country ski trails are also available. There are picnic areas as well as a public campsite.

Forest features 14,651 acres of camping, hiking and biking trails, cross-country skiing, canoeing, swimmiing, and fishing areas.

A walk through Norris Reservation’s two-mile trail system takes in a cathedral of pines, groves of beech, and scattered American holly. A granite outcrop, set too deep for early farmers to remove, emerges from the forest floor. Stone walls mark former property boundaries, pastures, and croplands, and a rustic boathouse serves as an observation deck over the North River. Visitors can also enjoy bird watching, cross-country skiing, and fishing on the shores of the North River.

This state park cross-country, hiking and bike trails. Fishing areas and swimming are also available. There is a public campground with picnic and rest facilities.