Category Archives: Dartmouth

Demarest Lloyd State Park

Date Of Visit: April 23, 2017

Location: Barney’s Joy Road, Dartmouth, MA (about 1.5 hours south of Boston and 45 minutes southeast of Providence, RI)

Hours: The park is generally open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Park hours in season are 10 am to 6 pm weekdays and 8 am to 6 pm weekends and holidays.  You can park at the entrance (a gate prevents access in the off season) and walk the roughly half a mile to the beach

Cost: $12 MA Vehicle, $14 non-MA Vehicle, see website for additional fees for boating

Parking: there is ample parking near the beach after you pay at the entrance.

Handicapped Accessible: Yes

Dog Friendly: Yes, but they are not allowed on the beach from April 1st to September 15th, unless they are service pets

Website: Demarest Lloyd State Memorial Park

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Located along the southern coast of Massachusetts,  Demarest Lloyd State Park has some of the prettiest views of any state park I have visited.  Its abundant bird population, scenic views and sandbars make Demarest one of the truly special places to visit and get away from it all.

Demarest is a bird lovers paradise, especially during the off season when there are less people, cars and other disturbances to scare them away.

The views at Demarest are truly breath taking.

I kept thinking to myself, sometimes the world is indeed a very beautiful place.  It’s important to have places like this treasure to observe and appreciate pure beauty.  Demarest was easy to photograph.  The hardest part was deciding which photos to post.  All I had to do was check my settings and point and click.  The beauty was already there, all courtesy of Mother Nature.

It was low tide during my visit.  So, I was able to walk out onto some of the sandbars and get up close to some of the gulls at the park.

There were also several lobster pots and other cage-like devices that had washed up along the shore or were being stored there for safe keeping

If you do walk past the beach area, as I did, you should remember to pack or wear an extra pair of walking shoes (flip flops and sandals won’t be adequate) because the path turns from sand to pebbles and seashells.  It is worth the walk, though.

One of the few creepy things at the park were these spiders.  And they were everywhere.  I must have seen dozens of them.  So, if you do lie out there on a  beach blanket, I’m just saying…but they have a purpose and place here as well.

Dogs like Demarest as well.

Bartley is a 2 year old German Shepherd.

Ranger is a 5 or 6 year old mixed breed dog.

Sadie is an 8 year old Lab.

 


Parsons Reserve (Dartmouth, MA)

Date Of Visit: April 23, 2017

Location: 50 Horseneck Rd, Dartmouth, MA

Hours: Open everyday, sunrise to sunset

Cost: Free, but a $2 donation is appreciated

Parking: There is a free parking area across the street from the reserve for about 50 cars.  Since the daffodils are a big attraction there, it filled up by the time I left and people had to wait to get the next available spot

Handicapped Friendly: No, the dirt trails have some slight inclines and the wooden planks used to walk over the streams are very narrow

Dog Friendly: Yes

Highlights: daffodils, wildlife, family friendly, easy trails, vernal ponds

Lowlights: Parking is very difficult unless you leave early on the weekends during daffodil season or go during the weekdays.  It is not as busy after the daffodil season has ended

Website: Parsons Reserve

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Undoubtedly the highlight of your trip to Parson Reserve has to be the sea of yellow and white daffodils.  The short daffodil season (the season usually begins the second week of April and ends the first week of May) is one of the busiest times of the year at Parson.

The entrance to parson Reserve is not easy to find if you don’t know where to look,  So, keep your eyes open and use the address listed above in your GPS.

A stream empties at the entrance to Parson reserve.  A nondescript entrance is located just past the rocky stream.  A short walk (about half a mile) along a well defined trail with a gentle incline and signs pointing to the daffodil field as well as a bench for weary travelers leads to the daffodil field.

Rows and rows of daffodils greet you at the end of the trail.

Bunny, a 6 year old Chocolate Lab who was adopted during Easter, enjoyed the daffodils!

One of the great things about my visit to Parsons is that there are also lots of trails to explore at the reserve which I had not expected.  The easy flat trails have some pretty trees and, I assume when they bloom, flowers.

There is also a vernal pool.  The staff who were there handing out maps, said they are supposed to be tadpoles there this time of the year.  I did not see any.  But, I am sure they’re there!

There were lots of critters at Parsons.  I saw this cute little guy, a garter snake, as I was leaving the reserve.  This is why I always take the less used trails (or go off trail).  A lot of wildlife gets scared by the crowds and noise and consequently, you have to explore a little to find the good stuff.

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There were also a lot of birds at the sanctuary.

Just to re-emphasize the issue of parking.  Try to arrive at Parsons by 10 on the weekends during daffodil season.  I am an early riser.  So, I found a spot with no problem.  The parking area has room for about 50 cars and it fills up quickly on the weekends this time of the year.  When I did leave around 10:30, there was already a line of cars waiting to get in to the lot.

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When I drove by even later (around 3) the entire side of the road was full of cars and the lot was full.  So, the best time to go is early in the morning or on a weekday.  But, it’s definitely worth getting up early for!