Date visited: 4/2/2023
Quincy Shore Reservation is a Massachusetts State Park along the Quincy shoreline. The main part of the reservation is Wollaston Beach, but the reservation includes two park areas, Moswetuset Hummock and Caddy Park. We started at Moswetuset Hummock, and then followed the All-Trials route that runs along side Quincy Shore Drive. We decided to turn our "out and back" hike into a loop by walking on the beach at first, and the paved sidewalk on the way back. It was a breezy day, and a bit chilly for early April, but the dogs didn't seem to mind. Mandy even had to test the water out for herself! The beach is nice, and from parts of it there are views of the Boston skyline. We didn't get a chance to visit Caddy Park on this trip, since our beach walk was over five miles already. Dogs are allowed on the beach from October through April, but strictly forbidden in the summer months. The only downside was a good deal of trash on the ground, but there was a group of volunteers out cleaning the trash while we were there. Hats of to them!
Date visited: 7/23/2023
This is a fanstastic place to bring your dogs on a warm summer day. There's about two and a half miles of trails here, with varying surfaces: dirt, fine stone dust and pavement. The trails are perfectly flat, and well maintained. But the best part of the park is the small beach on the point where off-leash dogs frollick in the sand and the water. It's always nice to discover beaches that allow dogs in the summer time, and even better when they can be off-leash. The beach opens to the bay, so the waves aren't strong, which is perfect for the dogs to romp around. It's a half mile walk or so to the beach, from the very large and free parking lot. We walked some more of the trails after visiting the beach, but then stopped again to cool off on our return walk back.
Date visited: 7/23/2023
This is another fun spot in Quincy to bring your dogs. Nickerson Beach is the very small beach on one side of Dorchester Street. This beach is okay, but it's not as nice as the other one here. There's a series of confusing trails here that connect this beach to the rest of Squaw Rock Park. The trails are not marked in any way, so a GPS enabled map is helpful. There are nice views of the bay here, but the best part of the park is the other, more secluded beach, where dogs play off-leash. The views here are great, especially on a sunny day. You can see from one of the phots below, we got photobombed by one of the dogs playing on the beach! It's one of the best photobombs ever!
Date visited: 9/4/2023
There's a nice paved walking path here around Nut Island...which isn't an island. I guess it used to be one in the old days. With some sort of water treatment facility in the center, this is like a much smaller version of Deer Island in Boston. The walking path is nice, with some great views of Boston Harbor. Unfortunately, wildfire smoke was present again, which caused it to be quite hazy. The haze made it hard to see the Boston skyline. There is also a fishing pier here as well, and some very clean porta-potties...a rarity for Massachusetts!