Hiking & Paddling Trails on the South Shore of Massachusetts

Eight Ponds Pass

Eight Ponds Pass is an ambitious yellow-blazed through-trail, envisioned to eventually run nearly 9 miles across Town conservation land, private parcels, Wildlands Trust property, and into Myles Standish State Forest, linking together eight ponds along the way. The Town's 2026 trail guide covers the completed eastern segment, roughly 4-5 miles from Beaver Dam Conservation Area to the Wildlands Trust headquarters on Long Pond Road, passing Little Island Pond, Great Island Pond, and Cotton Pond, crossing through Wildlands Trust's Emery East Preserve, and climbing a notably steep, rope-assisted hill near a former sand pit. This is a linear route, not a loop, so plan to stage a car at each end -- and pay close attention to the yellow blazes, since there are stretches on public roads and several spots where it's easy to wander off course.

Kapell Pinnacle Preserve

Named for its donor and for nearby Pinnacle Hill, Kapell Pinnacle Preserve is one of the Town's newest cranberry-bog restorations: the Department of Energy & Environment acquired roughly 51 acres here, about 15 of them former cranberry bog, taken out of agricultural production through the USDA's Wetlands Reserve Program. A $740,000 state Division of Ecological Restoration grant is funding the construction work -- removing old water gates, dikes, and channels to let the land return to a natural, wetter kettle-bog state, with new seeding, plantings, and a trail system planned. The property sits within the Zone II wellhead protection area for the Town's South Pond wells and abuts the federally designated Great Thicket area, land set aside for shrubland and young-forest wildlife habitat. Once complete, a wide, flat, grassy trail will circle the bogs with an in-and-out spur into a mature white pine forest.

Town Brook & Patuxet Preserve

Foothills Preserve

Completed in spring 2021, Foothills Preserve is a 126-acre former cranberry bog directly across from Mass Audubon's Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary, restored by tearing out the old bog infrastructure and letting the newly named Manomet Brook wind naturally through the wetland again. The wide, flat, hard-packed sand loop circles the restored bog and is genuinely one of the more accessible trails in town -- easy going for bikes, wheelchairs, strollers, and dogs alike, with foot bridges over the brook and open sightlines that make for excellent sunrise and sunset views. Look for a grove of large old cedars near the northern end, and a partial whale skeleton on display near the Dept. of Energy and Environment storage barn in the southeast corner, left to bleach in the sun after washing up on a Plymouth beach some years back.

Keville Footbridge & Pratt Trails

The combination of the Bridle Rail trail and Pratt provides visitors a 2 mile walk with many unique features. I can imagine this being an ideal for families since the terrain is largely very flat but with many things to keep little kids entertained. The Bridle Trail is actually many miles long as it stretches through Marshfield so this is only a very small piece of it. The Pratt trails are built around the Zena Brook, which flows through the 37-acre Pratt property. In 2017, many of these footbridges were restored to increase accessibility to the area. Residents voted to acquire the Pratt property at special Town Meeting in 2012. Additional plans are in place for the Pratt property itself which includes a beautiful but decaying home.