Weymouth's Hidden Gem: Great Esker Park

Whale Island seen from Reversing Falls site in Great Esker Park

The Great Esker Park is owned by the City of Weymouth, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The park with over six miles of trails is open to the public.

Back River Trail: Great Esker hiking

The park is located on the east side of the Weymouth Back River. It is named after a geological formation known as an esker, referring to a long ridge of stratified sand and gravel formed in a formerly glaciated region. A ninety-feet-high ridge in the park is said to be the highest esker in North America.

South end of Great Esker

The paved Back River Trail passes through the park. Within the park, it follows the esker ridge. An informative trail-side panel with the title “Weymouth's Hidden Gem” explains:

Great Esker Park contains 237 acres of uniquely preserved forest and saltmarsh habitat, featuring the longest wooded shoreline in Boston Harbor and a unique geological landmark known as an esker.

The narrative on the panel also celebrates Mary F. Toomey, who strongly advocated to preserve this precious esker and saltmarsh land:

Great Esker Park was acquired by the Town of Weymouth in 1965 through the National Park Service's Federal Lands to Parks Program thanks in part to strong advocacy from local environmentalist Mary F. Toomey. Prior to this the land had been owned by the navy dating back to 1912 and was part of the munitions depot in Hingham. Shortly after, Mart founded the Great Esker Park Natural Science Center in 1966 and would continue to advocate for the Back River throughout her life. She was instrumental in the creation of multiple parks along the river and established the Back River watershed association in 2000. In 1991 she received an Environmental Merit Award from the EPA and in 2004 she received the Gulf of Maine Times' Visionary award for her work.

The Field Guide to New England describes an esker as “a long, sinuous ridge composed of sand and gravel deposited by meltwater streams flowing in tunnels along the bottom of a melting glacier” and further says “Eskers stand as much as 50 feet above the surrounding landscape” [page 21 in the Field Guide by Peter Alden and others, National Audubon Society, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, Fifteenth Printing, March 2020].

Up to 90 feet high, the Weymouth esker is literally an outstanding feature. Various unpaved trails connect the Back River Trail over the high esker with lower esker sections. Forest trails, riverside trails and “saltmarsh beaches” invite for canoe, kayak and wildlife watching. Several saltwater inlets/outlets can safely be crossed during low tide. At the “Reversing Falls” post a path veers off the Back River Trail, leading eastward to the Weymouth Back River area with Whale Island and the Reversing Falls. When the tide is going out, the water from the esker-surrounded Reversing Falls Marsh flows east. When the tide is coming in, the water flows in reverse direction into the marsh.

 

Reversing Falls Marsh

 

Trail along an esker ridge

Getting there

The Great Esker Park has various points of entry. The north gate parking area is found just off Highway 3A (Bridge St, Weymouth, MA 02191); south of Abigail Adams State Park.

Map showing trails around the Reversing Falls Marsh

 

More to explore

Great Esker Park - Weymouth - MA. URL: https://www.mass-trails.org/towns/Weymouth/greateskerpark.html.  

Great Esker Park in Wymouth. Boston Geology. URL: https://bostongeology.com/geology/fieldtrips/trips/weymouth/esker.htm.

Hiking Trails of Weymouth. Great Esker Park. South Shore Hiking Trails. URL: https://www.south-shore-hiking-trails.com/great-esker-park.html.

Bare Cove / Great Esker, Hingham. NEMBA. URL: https://www.nemba.org/trails/massachusetts/bare-cove-great-esker-hingham. Map for download: https://www.nemba.org/sites/default/files/GreatEskerBareCove_Sep_2014.pdf.

Back River Trail. North and South Rivers Watershed Association. URL: https://www.nsrwa.org/listing/back-river-trail/.

Reineck, H.-E. und Singh, I. B.: Depositional Sedimentary Environments. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1980, ISBN 0-387-10189-6.