Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA
I grew up in Massachusetts but always visited beaches on Cape Cod. I occasionally went to Hampton Beach and Salisbury Beach with friends in high school, but never explored like I do now. Having kids has given me the confidence to get out there and find new places because they all LOVE it. This spot in Newburyport was right up our alley! Easy walking path, all wagon and stroller friendly and views of the ocean! What’s not to love!
Getting there
If you just put in Parker River National Wildlife Refuge into your maps app, there are two locations that come up. The one on Plum Island Turnpike is the visitor center and will not bring you to trails or beaches. You want to make sure you go past the visitor center and go to the entrance on Refuge Road. We took a wrong turn into the visitor center, so I wanted to mention it!
Entrance fees
There is a fee per vehicle, which is $5 per car. The fee applies year round and they only take CASH and CHECK. My sister had to write a check for $5! When you pay you get a receipt and it is good for entrance all day. We did the walking path for an hour and then went out to lunch. We would have loved to go back to the beach, but we were all tired and ready to get home.
Getting to the boardwalk walking path
To get to the boardwalk, you have to drive about 10 minutes down the road after you enter through the gate. You will pass beautiful marsh land on your right and then arrive to a parking area labeled Hellcat Wildlife Observation Area, parking lot 4. Below is a picture of the sign you will see and a picture of the parking lot here. We arrived on a Sunday morning in the spring around 10:30 and it was almost full. People are coming and going pretty quick though since the walk is just an hour. At this parking lot there is also a bathroom facility.
The walk
The boardwalk itself is beautiful and so easy to use! It is all wagon and stroller friendly, even the “spur” paths to more views. If you just stay on the loop it is 0.6 miles, but if you go down the viewing paths (see picture below), it is closer to 1 mile. Most of the path is shaded, as you are walking through the woods, so it is a very comfortable walk on sunny days. The path does wind through some wetlands with water on both sides, so I can imagine it might get buggy in the summer months, but in mid-April it wasn’t buggy at all. On the walk there are plenty of benches, and the ones at the ends of the “spurs” are the best! That is where we enjoyed our snacks! If you wanted a bigger area to put down a picnic blanket for lunch I would suggest going to the beach. That is back near the entrance, see below for where!
Bathrooms
At parking lot 4, where the boardwalk is, there is a bathroom facility there. There are also larger bathrooms with outdoor showers at the first parking lot past the gate.
Other things at Parker River
Right near the parking lot for the boardwalk path is an observation tower. It is down a short path and I can imagine the views at the top would be beautiful! We didn’t go up the tower because we were heading out to lunch and the kids were melting down a little. There are also beaches here. The first beach, right past the entrance gate, has a large parking lot and bathrooms. You can easily park there and walk down the path to the to enjoy the beach! Check on the website here for info on the beaches because most of the beach access areas were closed in April due to bird nesting season.
Grab lunch in Newburyport after!
To make the most of the day, we packed a snack for our walk and then headed downtown Newburyport for lunch! We had a great lunch at The Black Cow, which is right next to 2 parking lots and we could easily get a spot. I love Newburyport and wished we could’ve stayed downtown longer but it was definitely nap time so we headed home!
