Wompatuck State Park – Grove Street Entrance (Norwell)

433 Grove St, Norwell, MA 02061, USA

(617) 895-8245

Wompatuck.park@mass.gov

https://www.mass.gov/locations/wompatuck-state-park

Owned By: Commonwealth of Massachusetts

• Directions
• Trail Map

The newest (2022) access point to Wompatuck State Park! Look for the entrance diagonally across the street from the Hornstra Farm sign on Grove Street in Norwell. Note: Hunting is not permitted on this property.

This 3,500-acre Massachusetts state park served as the Hingham Naval Ammunition Annex from 1941 to 1965. It stretches into four towns – Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Norwell. The park features numerous seasonal campsites, plus fishing and non-motorized boating on the Aaron River Reservoir. There are 12 miles of paved bike paths, plus off-road trails for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing. Stroller-friendly in some sections. There are many rocky outcroppings and glacial erratic boulders throughout the park.

Other access points include: Main Entrance, Hingham •  Leavitt Street Entrance, Hingham • Triphammer Pond Conservation Area, Hingham • Whitney Spur Rail Trail, Cohasset • Whitney & Thayer Woods, Cohasset • Doane Street Entrance, Cohasset • Aaron River Reservoir and Dam, Cohasset • Brass Kettle Conservation Area, Cohasset • Mt. Blue Street, Norwell

Features

The land at Wompatuck State Park was commonly used by the Massachusett tribe, led by Chief Josiah Wompatuck. Local history books indicate that in 1655, he conveyed the rights to a large tract of land on the South Shore to European settlers.

Please bear in mind that Native American cultures often favor oral histories to written ones. Much of what’s recorded about the history of the South Shore is from the perspective of European settlers. It’s not the whole story. To learn more about our local tribes, we encourage you to interact with their members. The Mattakeeset band of the Massachusett, and the Massachusett tribe at Ponkapoag, also share information on their websites.

In the 1700s, early settlers and ship captains held title to the Wompatuck State Park area, but the land was never extensively developed. During the 1800s, families maintained woodlots and grazing lands here, and the streams powered the Stockbridge Shingle Mill. Water from Mt. Blue Spring was commercially bottled.

In 1941, the United States government established the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot Annex (known by locals as the “Cohasset Annex”). Land was acquired from private homeowners for the purpose of expanding the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot nearby. It remained in use until 1965, and served both World War II and the Korean Conflict.

Scattered throughout the property are over 100 decommissioned military bunkers, which were used to store ammunition. Explosives such as TNT-loaded depth charges, bombs, fuses, projectiles, and cartridges were produced and stored here. Many of these bunkers have been backfilled, but some remain exposed. There are several old military buildings on the property, as well as an abandoned railroad. Most buildings have had their roofs and windows removed, and are open to the elements.

The U.S. Navy deactivated the Cohasset Annex in 1963 and declared the land “surplus.” The Commonwealth of Massachusetts took possession of the land in 1966, and began developing it as a public park the following year. The park itself opened in 1969. Since then, 725 acres have been added.

A rail spur, the Whitney Spur, once connected the Ammunition Depot to the Old Colony Railroad’s Greenbush Line. In 2003, the DCR sold the land for the Cohasset commuter rail station and parking lot to the MBTA, in exchange for the construction of a rail trail on the former rail spur. The 1.5-mile Whitney Spur Rail Trail now connects the Cohasset MBTA station to Wompatuck State Park.

This land is within the region of the Massachusett (or Massachuseuk) Native American tribe. For thousands of years, the land that today is known as Norwell was inhabited by indigenous people who grew crops, foraged, hunted, and fished in the Assinippi and North River areas. Circa 1617, a major outbreak of disease decimated an estimated 90% of the native population in New England, including the Massachusett and Wampanoag tribes that inhabited the South Shore. There are still descendants of these original inhabitants living here today. They are known as the Mattakeesett Tribe of the Massachusett Indian Nation , the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe.

Trail Description

This entrance features a new ADA trail that connects via a boardwalk and a crushed stone pathway to established trails within the park. A section of the now-aging chain link fencing that once demarcated the park’s boundaries can be found a short distance down the trail. Not all maps have been updated to include this entrance. It’s helpful to know that the trail from the parking lot leads to marker S27.

There are numerous woodland trails within the park for hiking, dog-walking, horseback riding, cycling, and cross-country skiing. For mountain bikers, the park is home to one of the longest section of switchbacked singletrack in the state.

Close to the Norwell entrance to the park is the highest point in Hingham: Prospect Hill. To get there, follow the trail from Marker S 27 to S30 to S 34, and then onward to S3 and S4.

Habitats and Wildlife

Much of the park is undeveloped and is heavily wooded. Trees include Atlantic white cedar, American holly, chestnut oak, shagbark hickory, mountain laurel, pink dogwood, white pine, American beech, and hemlock — some estimated to be 175 years old. Wildflowers and flowering shrubs also grow in abundance. Among the most common are swamp azalea, solomon’s seal, white geranium, ladies slipper, and sheep laurel.

Land and water creatures abound in the park. Common species include: muskrat, raccoon, cottontail rabbit, skunk, painted turtle, bullfrog, coyote, deer, bobcat, fisher cat, red & grey fox, yellow spotted salamander, yellow spotted turtle, box turtle, woodcock, bass, pickerel and sunfish. There are over 250 bird species in the park, including: blue jay, great blue heron, gosshawk, red tail hawk, yellow warbler, ruffed grouse, and quail. Fish commonly found in the 136-acre Aaron River Reservoir include bass, pickerel, sunfish, and perch.

The Aaron River is relatively close to this entrance. You can find it by navigating to S30 and S31 on the trail map. The loop trail connecting these two points to S11-S14 crosses the Aaron River twice.

This section of the park, and many of the waterways elsewhere in the park, drain to the Aaron River, which flows northeast to the Aaron River Reservoir. The dam that holds the reservoir in place was constructed from 1976-1978. Below the dam, the river continues to flow through Cohasset. It joins with Brass Kettle Brook and eventually empties into the Gulf River in North Scituate. The Gulf River flows into the ocean at Cohasset Harbor. In addition, Accord Brook flows northward along the western edge of the park, eventually into Triphammer Pond. Soon after it exits the pond, it flows into the Weir River.