Anybody ever been to the Boston Harbor Islands?
Posted Feb 28, 2011, 9:20 AM UTC
3646
I've day-visited spectacle and thompson. And camped overnight on bumpkin. Spectacle is very touristy, but very fun. There's a crab shack, actual bathrooms, swimming ( its rocky), a few "trails" ( more like paths) and a great kite flying area.
I went to Thompson on a field trip in college. We were taken around by my prof, a geologist. The park rangers offer a similar tour, and i'd highly recommend it if you are at all interested in science. There are a lot of neat geological stuff on the island.
Lastly, I camped on bumpkin and had a blast. It's a small island ( toured it in 2hrs) but has a bunch of neat buildings/remnants and a large beach. At low tide you can even walk to hull. They have a porta potty, but that's it. They also have fire pits on the beach, which is awesome.
4
nice! is George's Island right behind you in this pic?
2
Nope, that's Peddocks. I'm between Grape and Bumpkin looking at Peddocks with Quincy and Boston in the background.
1
We had a company picnic on Thompson Island last summer. It was pretty cool, we had our own area to use with a pavilion for lunch, volleyball pit, horseshoes, etc. There were plenty of walking trails that covered most of the island, too. I took a 12-picture panorama of Boston from the shore; I think it turned out to be about 180 degrees.
2
Dunkin Donuts?
1
there ...wasn't a Dunkin Donuts there, if that's what you're asking.
3
I think he's asking if you work for DD.
1
well, that would make more sense. No, I do not work for Dunkin Donuts.
2
I've been to Bumpkin and Peddocks on beach cleanup days. It was definitely cool and I've been meaning to get back and explore a bit.
2
Always wanted to do one of those. How was it?
1
I had a good time getting out of the office and into nature for a day I wouldn't normally be there.
The first time I did it we had to catalog all the trash we picked up. That got a little old, but other than that it was fun.
1
I love the Boston Harbor Islands! My spouse and I went there a few years ago, and I was shocked that I had lived in this area so long without even knowing that they were there.
The island I liked the most was Gallops Island. It used to be fairly well settled -- it was used as a quarantine station, civil war camp, and even had a radio school for a time. Now it's completely deserted. Some of the foundations of the buildings are still there, but otherwise, the island had been taken over by wild plants.
2
Now it's completely deserted. Some of the foundations of the buildings are still there, but otherwise, the island had been taken over by wild plants.
They discovered that asbestos was getting into the air so they capped one of the buildings with dirt and closed the island until further notice. There was some conspiracy theory circulating around the harbor that the gov't always knew there was asbestos there and the only reason it was closed was so they could dump some of the dirt from the Big Dig onto it like they did with Spec.
If you go there now there are giant orange QUARANTINE signs that tell you to not go there.
2
Yikes! That explains why I didn't see any mention of the island on the web as a tourist destination when I looked it up the other day! Thanks for this info!
1
i have a couple of friends who were living on site as Park Rangers, good gig
2
I probably met them a few times, or are friends with them (if they worked there after 1989)
1
The Geese like to visit Spectacle Island. More like Shit Spectacle Island if you ask me.
1
I've been on the ferry but what I'd really like to do is one of these.
1
Look me up next summer. I'm one of the rangers that leads the tours. My tours are the best.
3
Nice, PM?
2
I'll still be here with this username if you can remember.
2
Reddit Boston Harbor Kayak meetup?
6
Adding a note to remind myself to kayak....
2
Where do you launch the kayaks for that trip?
I took up kayaking last summer and really only did the Charles and various places on the Cape. I'd love to find good seakayaking places around here.
1
I launched from Grape Island, but you could put in in Hingham just as easily, right next to South Shore Lobster. Alternatively, you could go to Wollaston Beach in Quincy. If you look at a map of the harbor, that image was snapped as I was looking at the southeastern drumlin of Peddocks and directly in between Grape and Bumpkin.
Great care should be taken in the harbor because there are a handful of MBTA ferries that would run you over in a heartbeat. I would know, I used to drive some of them!
EDIT: Next summer you should come paddle camping on Grape Island. The 4th of July is awesome out here if you like to watch fireworks (you can see 5 or 6 displays from Hingham to Boston)
2
Kayak tour ranger and MBTA ferry driver? IAMA, please?
1
Yeah. I've spent the majority of my last two summers scuba diving around them, I don't have much land experience on them.
Grave's Light and Outer Brewster island (or Little Brewster) are pretty good for getting lobster. There is also a good scallop bed near Grave's Light.
1
There's a barge on the backside of Calf Island partially visible during low tide. Bugs love that spot.
1
I keep my sailboat in Boston Harbor, and have explored the BH Islands and the water surrounding them extensively since 2004. They are fantastic, accessible, and an excellent source of enjoyment.
The best date I ever executed was the day of the first Boston Harbor Islands Regatta, a gorgeous sunny day in October 2006 (I think?). We planned a picnic lunch, took the ferry over, and spent the day sitting on a blanket on top of Fort Warren (on George's Island), watching the boats run downwind towards the finish line with their spinnakers out.
Awesome.
1
That sounds amazing!
1
Yeah, it was really great. I had been seeing a great German woman for a few months then and we had a blast. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.
1
I am moving my kayak to the city this year.... I will join you when it's warm enough to go out!
1
I went to Calf island when they decided to go there for the first time in 10 years. It was pretty cool. The amount of seagulls there was scary though.
1
A few of my friends spent a lot of time on Thompson for the Scottish fiddle school there, and we eventually played a concert there for parents' day.
But Rainsford Island is my favorite, with its litle cove and that rocky hill on one side. Great place to bring a bunch of your friends and BBQ from 8am until sundown! You need your own boat to get there.
And there are rabbits there that are descendants of ones the Pilgrims put there.
1
When I was a Cub Scout we had a sleep over on one of the islands with an old fort on it.
We were told not to leave our tents that evening, but we all snuck out with flashlights and ran around the empty fort all night. We had awesome "battles" because the fort was so well designed for defense (with kids able to get high ground positions and such). It was one of the best experiences of my childhood.
Also, I found a rock on the beach that had a "2" carved in it. I'm pretty sure it's a piece of a larger engraving in the fort that fell apart. I took it home with me and I'm glad I did, cause otherwise the ocean would have eventually worn the number off (as I'm sure the rest of the message had been).
1
When I was younger, I did an Outward Bound sailing trip out of Thompson Island for a week, all around the harbor. The sailing part was cool, but the overall trip was one of the worst experiences of my life.
1
I've been to George's Island. That shit was awesome.
Pretty boat ride over and on the island itself I think there was only one park ranger. So you can wander unescorted through a large fort. There were large cavers and small tunnels. Places so dark we were using the flash from someone's camera to find our way through. It was really neat to just wander through it. It might have helped that at least one person I was with knew about the island and fort but it was definitely worth going.
Went a few times in grade school on field trips. When going with the school it was with a guide, which was fun. When I got older I went on my own and it was getting late in the day, so I think we were the only people on the entire island other than a few rangers, it was pretty cool exploring the place on our own.
Yeah I've been to George's Island a bunch of times with youth groups. We'd play frisbee in the field. There's so much room there to run around.
Love George's. Much better fort and nicer tour guides, plus amazing views -- and how many times can you say you hiked on ramparts? Thought so.