North River Wildlife Sanctuary – Marshfield , MA
We’ve hiked the North River Wildlife sanctuary a few times down to the North River viewing platform, one time we were even lucky enough to see the bald eagles that live in the trees in the area. We really like this hike, it’s pretty easy and has great options for everyone both kids and adults.
From the parking lot there are different directions you can venture. First, you can pass by the visitors center across Summer Street to the River Loop. There are two off shoot here into the woods, the 1st is called the Red Maple Loop which is a short cut through in the woods that reconnects to the main trail. The 2nd takes you on a bridge through the woods to the viewing platform of the North River. From here you can see the Spit, Roht Marine, Damons Point and the Scituate Country Club across the River. Loop back along the bridge where you’ll reenter the River Loop and head back up the hill to the parking lot.
Back near the main building you’ll see the entrance to the sensory trail, where you can travel along the boardwalk and listen to an audio tour. Follow along the sensory trail and you’ll reach the Woodland Loop, until today that was as far as we ever traveled here, but this time we continued onto the Hannah Eames Trail. Hannah Trouant Eames was the daughter of Morris Trouant who immigrated from Europe and settled in Marshfield in the 1600s. This portion of the trail goes further into the woods where you eventually cross over the Hannah Eames Brook. There’s a really cool bridge here surrounded by some mossy rocks that gave us a “Trolls” vibe.
Overall the trails are about 2.5 miles through the woods, across some cool bridges and fast moving streams. Definitely a must visit if you’ve never been! The bridge rating here is pretty high because of the boardwalk down by the river, but also the sensory trail is one long boardwalk and the bridge along the Hannah Eames portion was awesome. As far as a stroller, if you’re staying along the sensory trail you’ll be okay since it’s all bridge, but straying from there and you’ll want to make sure you have a carrier for your little one!
