Rocky Pond Cranberry Bogs - Self-Guided Interpretive Trail

WELCOME to Myles Standish State Forest. Managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) this 12,404 acre forest offers hiking, biking, picnicking, non-motorized boating and seasonal camping. The Rocky Pond Cranberry Bog Parking Lot (P7)

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Rocky Pond Cranberry Bogs - Self-Guided Interpretive Trail

Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360, United States

Created By: MA Department of Conservation & Recreation

Tour Information

The Rocky Pond Cranberry Bog is a 7-acre commercial cranberry farm within Myles Standish State Forest. This agricultural resource is managed by the DCR, farmed by the University of Massachusetts’ Cranberry Experiment Station located in East Wareham, and supported by the member farmers of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association. It is used as a living laboratory, classroom, and demonstration area to promote low impact, but sustainable agricultural practices. It is also a for-profit farm so please enjoy the property but observe the general visitor guidelines of the park including…

· Please stay on designated trails. Do not walk on the bog.

· Leave only footprints take only pictures.

· Do not pick the cranberries.

· Observe all posted rules and regulations.

· Be aware of hunting seasons and wear blaze orange when appropriate.

· All dogs must be leashed and pet waste should be disposed of properly.

Please remember to carry-in, carry-out all your belongings and trash. Leave No Trace of your visit. Thank you.


Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

About the Trail This is an ever changing ecosystem. “Nothing is as sure as change” and the landscape is ever evolving a different look and different mix of plant communities. Those changes occur (even) without the influence of humans. A... Read more
Moving down the slope to your left is Federal Hill which contains a stand of white pine. A white pine thinning has been completed along the lower edge to open the bog hollow for greater sunshine and air circulation. This is also part of a f... Read more
To your right and in the hollow is the first section of cranberry bog. It is encircled by a perimeter ditch, which conveys floodwater on and off the bog. Lateral ditches, which help to move the water, transect the section and there is a dik... Read more
Rocky Pond is just beyond the bog. A walk around the perimeter will take you to the pond edge. Rocky Pond is a good example of a kettle-hole pond: deep, clear, and spring fed. Park staff have installed a kestrel nest box high in the large o... Read more
At the far end of the bog, turn onto the dirt road that travels by an abandoned cranberry bog on your right. Look carefully through the bushes and you will see the old ditched sections and remnants of an old flume. This was a productive bog... Read more
On your left you’ll come to a deep canal used to drain the bog sections. When the flume gates are opened, water moves by gravity through the canal to nearby Federal Pond, a cranberry reservoir, where Federal Furnace bogs will use the wate... Read more
The second piece of productive bog, called North Bog, is up ahead on your left. This 4-acre section was renovated in 2000. The very irregular perimeter was squared-off to improve efficiencies, drainage has been improved, and the bog has bee... Read more
The sandpit is hard to miss. Sand is an important additive to a cranberry bog. Spread on the vines or on top of the ice during a winter flood, sand will anchor new shoots, keep fruiting uprights short and stocky, cover the leaf litter, redu... Read more
To get back to the parking lot you can take the path from the north side of the North Bog along Rocky Pond, carefully passing the red pump house, before it returns you back to Rocky Pond Bog.  
Take the short wooded trail from the pumphouse along Rocky Pond back to Rocky Bog. From here, you can continue your walk around the bog and head back to your vehicle. 
This brings us to the end of the trail back at Parking Lot 7. We hope you enjoyed this self-guided tour. The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) oversees over 450,000 acres of state parks, forests, beaches, bike trails, parkways... Read more

 

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