Bradley Palmer State Park
Bradley Palmer State Park is a Massachusetts state park located in Hamilton, Massachusetts and Topsfield, Massachusetts. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The park is based on a former estate willed to the state expressly for the use of its citizens on the death of its owner, Bradley Palmer. The Bradley Palmer mansion, former host to secret or high-level government conferences in the FDR era, has been restored by the state and may be rented for private functions. The former barn and garage facilities have been turned into a headquarters and maintenance center. Also on the grounds is a colonial farmhouse currently being restored and a caretaker's house. Entrance to the park is through the north gate; the old south gate is permanently closed. Through traffic is not allowed. Near the south gate a wading pool with overhead fountain has been constructed. It has an entrance fee, the only one in the park. A connecting paved road runs through the park.
Description
Bradley Palmer State Park is a 721-acre (2.92 km2) park that features meadows where blueberries can be picked, equestrian runs, stands of climax white pine and hemlock, and a central paved road lined with white pine and in one stretch of a few hundred yards of rhododendron and mountain laurel thickets. The estate is bordered on the north by the Ipswich River and Willowdale State Forest. Some of the land there is private but the park has contiguous access to the ruins of Willowdale Mill, a colonial structure.
The Discover Hamilton Trail loops through the park. Willowdale State Forest is just north of Bradley Palmer.
Besides being open to public at will, the park has many structured uses. It is currently used as the home field for meets of the Masconomet Regional High School Cross-county Team. In the autumn the neighboring horse farms conduct fox hunts (they bring their own fox). Sometimes equestrian meets are held there. Numerous hurdles are in evidence in the equestrian runs, which are periodically mowed. Horses brought in by trailer at will may usually be seen on any non-winter day, more so toward the autumn.
History
The park is the former estate of Bradley Palmer, a noted attorney of the early 20th-century. During the 1960s and '70s the park was the location of the Massachusetts Civil Defense Training Academy. The academy utilized the rooms of the Willow Dale estate as classrooms, dormitory and mess facilities. A disaster town was constructed in a clearing apx. One-quarter mile east and consisted of a burn house, five story rappelling tower, shed class rooms and four collapse building simulators.
Recreational opportunities
- Running (Cross-Country)
- Wading pool and fountain
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback Riding Trails
- Biking
- Picnicking
- Restrooms
- Skiing (Cross-Country)
- Walking Trails
Park hazards
Many of the trails over the hills were constructed environmentally improperly straight up and down slope instead of following the contours. Consequently erosion has turned them into dry stream beds or ravines dangerous and unsuitable for hiking due to loose boulders and gravel and uneven terrain. Despite many efforts of the park attendants to level, fill and mulch, these trails remain in bad condition. This long-standing problem remains to be solved. Some are closed to the public, which is warned by signs against their use.
In the autumn group equestrian events are more frequent. The pedestrian is cautioned to be alert for galloping horses and not depend entirely on the alertness of the riders. Also in the autumn the privacy of the unsuspecting visitor is likely to be unexpectedly interrupted by teams of cross-country runners.
Poison ivy grows extensively in the picnic areas.
Although the Ipswich River has had swimming holes in the past, swimming from the bridges is not currently permitted. In places the currents are dangerous. In the spring and autumn the swift flood currents are hazardous.
External links
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State Parks:
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State Parks:
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Wildlife
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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 · 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 · Massachusetts Military Reservation · 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 ·
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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 ·
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Roger and Virginia Drury Preserve · Tatkon Preserve · McElwain-Olsen Preserve · Reed Brook Preserve · Hawley Bog Preserve · Stacy Mountain Preserve · Greene Swamp Preserve · Black Pond Bog Nature Preserve · Halfway Pond Island Preserve · Grassy Pond Preserve · Boat Meadow Preserve · Sandy Neck Preserve · Hockomock Swamp · David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail · Hoft Farm Preserve · Katama Plains Preserve · Francis Newhall Woods Nature and Wildlife Preserve · Miacomet Moors Preserve · Homer-Watcha Preserve ·
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Other
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Concord Land Conservation Trust · Harvard Forest · Lincoln Land Conservation Trust ·
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