Myles Standish State Forest

Myles Standish State Forest
Massachusetts State Forest

Named for: Myles Standish

Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Plymouth
Towns	Carver, Plymouth

Elevation	144 ft (44 m) ^[1]
Coordinates	41°51′23″N 70°40′32″W / 41.85639°N 70.67556°W / 41.85639; -70.67556Coordinates: 41°51′23″N 70°40′32″W / 41.85639°N 70.67556°W / 41.85639; -70.67556

Area	12,029 acres (4,868 ha) ^[2]

Established	1916 ^[3]
Management	Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Park Headquarters	Cranberry Road, Carver
- coordinates	41°50′21″N 70°41′28″W / 41.83917°N 70.69111°W / 41.83917; -70.69111

Location in Massachusetts
Website: Myles Standish State Forest

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Myles Standish State Forest.

Myles Standish State Forest is state forest located in the towns of Plymouth and Carver in southeastern Massachusetts, approximately 45 miles (70 km) south of Boston. It is the largest publicly owned recreation area in this part of Massachusetts and is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).^[4]

Description

The forest is part of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion and consists largely of pitch pine and scrub oak forests—at 26 square miles (67 km²), one of the largest such forests north of Long Island. The forest surrounds 16 lakes and ponds, including several ecologically significant coastal kettle ponds.

Ecology

Species commonly found in Southeast Massachusetts pine barrens:^[5]

Plants

Trees

Pitch pine
Bear oak (scrub oak)
Dwarf chestnut oak (scrub oak)

Fruit-bearing

Animals

Birds

Insects

Persius duskywing (endangered)
Frosted elfin
Slender clearwing sphinx moth
Barrens buck moth
Melsheimer's sack-bearing moth
Gerhard's underwing moth
Barrens tiger beetle (endangered)
Antlion

Reptiles

Mammals

Fisher

Activities and amenities

Recreational uses include swimming, hunting, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and picnicking. Day-use areas are found at College Pond and Fearing Pond. Hunting is allowed during the season, and two Wildlife Management Areas within the forest are stocked with game birds in October and November. In the summer, the park offers interpretive programs, such as pond shore walks and cranberry bog explorations.^[4]

Trails

The forest offers fifteen miles (24 km) of paved bicycle trails, thirty-five miles (56 km) of horse trails, and thirteen miles (21 km) of hiking trails. The "Bicycle Trails of Carver" were included in the Massachusetts Department of Travel and Tourism's list of 1000 great places in Massachusetts.^[6]

Camping

Camping is offered at five sites, four of which are located at ponds: Curlew Pond, Fearing Pond, Charge Pond, Barrett Pond. A portion of the Charge Pond area is set aside for equestrian camping.

Ponds

The follow table lists the ponds and recreational activities available at each in Myles Standish State Forest.^[7]

Pond name	Size (acres)	Maximum depth (feet)	Location in forest	Swimming	Fishing	Boating
Barrett	16	17	Southwest	yes^††	yes	yes
Bumps	20	4	East	No Access	No Access	No Access
Charge	23	17	South	yes	yes	yes
Cherry	2	-	North-central	LA	LA	LA
College	53	24	Central	yes^††	yes	yes
Curlew	43	31	Northwest	yes^††	yes	yes
Doctors	2	3	Southeast	NFA	NFA	NFA
East Head Reservoir^†	86	10	Southwest	NP	Boat Only	yes
Fearing	24	20	South-central	yes^††	yes	yes
Grassy	3	-	Southeast	NP	NP	NP
Hooper	3	-	North-central	NP	NP	NP
Little College	3	-	North-central	NFA	NFA	NFA
Little Widgeon	7	5	Northwest	LA	LA	LA
Manters Hole	2	-	Northwest	NP	NP	NP
New Grassy	6	4	Southeast	LA	yes	LA
New Long	23	6	Central	NFA	yes	yes
Rocky	20	19	Northwest	NFA	yes	yes
Round	10	12	Central	LA	LA	LA
Three Cornered	14	4	Central	LA	LA	LA
Torrey	3	4	Central	NP	NP	NP
Widgeon	24	12	Northwest	NFA	yes	yes

^†East Head Reservoir is owned by the Davison Partners. The property line is located six rods (99 feet) from the high-water mark around the Reservoir. ^††Public swimming area was posted for elevated bacteria levels during the 2010 swimming season. yes = FORMAL ACCESS is available for recreational activity. NFA = Recreational activity is permitted, but NO FORMAL ACCESS is available. LA = LIMITED ACCESS for low impact recreational use is permitted, sensitive pond shore habitat. NP = Recreational access NOT PERMITTED, habitat protection area.

Three Cornered Pond

Three Cornered Pond is a 14-acre (57,000 m²) pond in the Myles Standish State Forest in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The pond is located northeast of New Long Pond and southwest of College Pond. The water quality is impaired due to non-native aquatic plants.

Scouting

Cachalot Scout Reservation, a Boy Scout camp, encompasses 880 acres (360 ha) surrounding Five Mile Pond adjacent to Myles Standish State Forest.^[8] Camp Squanto is also located within Myles Standish State Forest^[9] as is Camp Wind-in-the-Pines, a girl scout camp.^[10]

Prison

A state correctional facility, MCI - Plymouth, is also located in Myles Standish State Forest.^[11]

In the news

On May 14, 1977, according to the Plymouth Police Department records, Eric H. Anderson Jr. murdered Ruth Masters (née Ruth Rydberg) while she was riding her bike alone on an isolated trail in the park. He was later found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in Maine State Prison in Warren, Maine.^[12]

References

↑ "Myles Standish State Forest". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
↑ "2012 Acreage Listing" (PDF). Department of Conservation and Recreation. April 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
↑ "Fifty-second Annual Report of the Commissioners on Fish and Game for the year ended November 30, 1917" (PDF). Retrieved May 29, 2016.
1 2 "Myles Standish State Forest". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
↑ "The Pine Barrens of Southeast Massachusetts" (PDF). The Nature Conservacy. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
↑ Great Places in Massachusetts Commission (July 12, 2010). "1,000 places to visit in Massachusetts". Boston Globe. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
↑ Myles Standish Planning Unit, Resource Management Plan (PDF), Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2011, p. 17
↑ "Camp Cachalot". Boy Scouts of America, Narragansett Council. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
↑ "Camp Squanto". Old Colony Council. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
↑ "Camp Wind-in-the-Pines". Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
↑ "MCI-Plymouth". Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
↑ Ellement, John (November 11, 2003). "Man guilty in 1977 murder". Boston Globe. Retrieved October 17, 2009.

External links

Myles Standish State Forest Department of Conservation and Recreation
Myles Standish State Forest Map Department of Conservation and Recreation
Myles Standish State Forest Map Department of Conservation and Recreation
Friends of Myles Standish State Forest

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

National Historical Parks	Adams Blackstone River Valley Boston Lowell Minute Man New Bedford Whaling

National Historic Sites	Boston African American Frederick Law Olmsted John Fitzgerald Kennedy Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters Salem Maritime Saugus Iron Works Springfield Armory

Other National Park Service Units	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Cape Cod National Seashore

National Wildlife Refuges	Assabet River Great Meadows Mashpee Massasoit Monomoy Nantucket Nomans Land Oxbow Parker River Silvio O. Conte Thacher Island

Other	Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve West Hill Dam (USACE)

State Parks

Parks	Alewife Brook Ames Nowell Ashland Bash Bish Falls Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Borderland Boston Harbor Islands Bradley Palmer C. M. Gardner Callahan Castle Island State Park Chicopee Memorial City Square Clarksburg Cochituate Connecticut River Greenway Demarest Lloyd Dighton Rock Dunn Ellisville Harbor Fall River Heritage Gardner Heritage Great Brook Farm Halibut Point Hampton Ponds Holyoke Heritage Hopkinton Lake Lorraine Lake Wyola Lawrence Heritage Lowell Heritage Lynn Heritage Massasoit Maudslay Moore Mount Holyoke Range Natural Bridge Nickerson Pearl Hill Pilgrim Quinsigamond Robinson Roxbury Heritage Rutland Skinner South Cape Beach Wahconah Falls Webb Memorial Wells Western Gateway Heritage Whitehall Wompatuck

Reservations	Beaver Brook Belle Isle Marsh Blue Hills Breakheart Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Dorchester Shores Elm Bank Fort Phoenix Hammond Pond Hemlock Gorge Horseneck Beach Jug End Lynn Shore Middlesex Fells Mount Everett Mount Greylock Mount Sugarloaf Mount Tom Myles Standish Mystic River Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Nasketucket Bay Neponset River Pope John Paul II Purgatory Chasm Quincy Quarries Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Salisbury Beach Sandy Point Scusset Beach Stony Brook Upper Charles River Wachusett Mountain Walden Pond West Island Weymouth Wilson Mountain

Other	Appalachian Trail Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Cape Cod Rail Trail Fort Revere Lake Dennison Recreation Area Lower Neponset River Trail Nashua River Rail Trail Norwottuck Rail Trail Quabbin Reservoir Southwest Corridor Park Squantum Point Park Streeter Point Recreation Area Sudbury Reservoir Wachusett Reservoir Ware River Watershed Area

State Forests

Wildlife Management Areas

Wildlife Management Areas	Agawam Lake Agawam Mill Pond Ashby Ashfield Hawley Attitash Ayer Game Farm Baddacook Pond Bakers Pond Bay Circuit Trail Bearse Pond Becket Bennett Birch Hill Black Brook Blackstone / West River Bolton Flats Boxboro Station Brayton Point Salt Marsh Breakneck Brook Brewer Brook Bullock Ledge Burrage Pond Canoe River Catamount Chalet Chase Garden Creek Salt Marsh Childs River Chockalog Swamp Church Homestead Clapps Pond Clinton Bluff Concord River Connecticut River Cook Pond Copicut Coy Hill Crane Pond Cummington Cusky Pond Dartmoor Farm Darwin Scott Memorial Day Mountain Deerfield River Dogfish Bar Beach Coastal Dolomite Ledges Dunstable Brook E. Kent Swift Eagle Island East Mountain Eastham Salt Marsh Elbow Meadow English Salt Marsh Eugene D. Moran Facing Rock Fairfield Brook Farmington River Fish Brook Fisherville Pond Fisk Forestdale Lot Fisk Meadows Five Mile River Flagg Swamp Flint Pond Four Chimneys Fox Den Fox Island Salt Marsh Frances A. Crane Freetown Swamp George L. Darey Housatonic Valley Glen Echo Lake Gosnold Grassy Pond (Dennis) Grassy Pond (Plymouth) Green River (Franklin County) Green River (Berkshire County) Greenfield River Halfway Pond Hamilton Hancock Harlow / Cooks Pond Haskell Swamp Hauk Swamp Hawksnest State Park Hawley Head Of The Plains Herman Covey High Ridge Hinsdale Flats Hiram H. Fox Hockomock Swamp Hog Pond Lot Honey Pot Hoosatonic River Hoosic River Hop Brook Housatonic River Hubbard Brook Hunting Hills Hyannis Ponds Ipswich River John J. Kelly Joint Base Cape Cod Jug End Fen Jug End Kampoosa Fen Katama Plains Knops Pond Konkapot River Lackey Pond Lake Lorraine Lake Rohunta Lake Snipatuit Lake Warner Lanesboro Lawrence Brook Lawrence Pond Lot Leadmine Leyden Lilly Pond Little Alum Pond Long Sought For Pond Maple Hill Maple Springs Martha Deering Martin H. Burns Mascuppic Lake Mashpee Pine Barrens Mashpee Pond Lot Mashpee River Mckinstry Brook Meetinghouse Swamp Merrill Pond Miacomet Heath Mill River Millers River Mine Brook Montague Plains Montague Moose Brook Moose Brook Moose Hill Mossy Pond Mount Watatic Reservation Mt. Esther Mt. Toby Highlands Mt. Toby Mt. Tom Muddy Brook Muddy Pond Mulpus Brook Nashua River Natty Brook Nemasket River Nissitissit River Noquochoke Nordeen Marsh North Brookfield North Shore Salt Marsh Northboro Oakham Olivers Pond Orange Otis Packard Pond Palmer Pantry Brook Pauchaug Brook Peru Peterson Swamp Phillipston Podunk Marsh Poland Brook Popple Camp Popponesset Beach Poutwater Pond Powell Brook Prince River Provincetown Route 6 Corridor Purchade Brook Quaboag Quacumquasit Quag Pond Bog Quashnet River Quashnet Woods State Reservation Quinapoxet River Quinsigamond Marsh Quisset Raccoon Hill Rainbow Beach Red Brook Richardson Robbins Pond Rochester Rocky Gutter Rowe Salisbury Salt Marsh Salisbury Salt Marsh Sandwich Game Farm Sandy Pond Satan's Kingdom Savage Hill Savoy Sawmill River Scorton Creek Coastal SE Mass Bioreserve Sevenmile River Shattuck Brook Sheperds Island Shubael Pond Sibley Brook Sly Pond South Barrier Beach South Meadow Pond South Shore Salt Marsh South Triangle Pond Southampton Southwick Spectacle Pond Springhill Lot Sputtermill Pond Squannacook River Stafford Hill Sudbury River Sunderland Islands Taconic Mountain Taunton River Taunton River Tekoa Mountain Thad Ellis Thayer Pond Three Mile Pond Townsend Townsend Hill Trapfall Brook Triangle Pond Tully Brook Tully Mountain Tully River Wakeby Pond Wales Walnut Hill Ware River Warwick Wendell West Meadows Westboro Westfield River Westfield Weymouth Back River Whately Great Swamp Whately Ponds Whately Wilbraham Game Farm William Forward Williams River Williamsburg Winimusset Wolf Swamp

Wildlife Sanctuaries	Billingsgate Island Carr Island E. Howe Forbush Egg Rock Grace A. Robson J.C. Phillips Knight Penikese Island Ram Island (Salisbury) Ram Island (Mattapoisett) Susan B. Minns Tarpaulin Cove Watatic Mountain

The Nature Conservancy

Black Pond Bog Boat Meadow Francis Newhall Woods Grassy Pond Greene Swamp Halfway Pond Island Hawley Bog Hockomock Swamp Hoft Farm Homer-Watcha Preserve Katama Plains McElwain-Olsen Miacomet Moors Reed Brook Drury Sandy Neck David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail Stacy Mountain Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations

Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuaries

Arcadia Broad Meadow Brook Broadmoor Daniel Webster Drumlin Farm High Ledges Ipswich River Moose Hill North River Pleasant Valley Stony Brook Wachussett Meadow Wellfleet Bay

Other

Concord Land Conservation Trust Harvard Forest Lincoln Land Conservation Trust Lloyd Center for the Environment Lynn Woods Reservation Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary

Category
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
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