The threat of rain one day and torrential downpours the next brought me back to Callery Darling. The 1st day was cloudy and I saw some signs of a spring that seems like it will never arrive accept for 2 out of every 7 days. GREEN grass and bushes, but only in a few spots. It is coming. The rainy day the trail was a creek. I like walking in the water once in a while but not like this. It was raining so hard that when I was about done I thought it had stopped but then I realized it was only pouring.
The next day I was going with my friend to see her week old grand daughter ( so beautiful). It was supposed to be a nice day, couldn’t venture far so I walked the . bog down the street . NOPE Cold and damp. It was beautiful in Salem and we walked around historic neighborhoods and a nice park. So even if you have no trails WALK !! Somewhere!!
I finally had a chance to try a new trail and picked Crocker Neck Conservation Area. Most of the trails I had been walking were o the north side of The Cape along Rte 6A. Crocker Neck is in Cotuit, a village in Barnstable on the south side, and ends up at Poponessett Bay. Easy to get there, Rte 28 to Cotuit Center, west on School Street and left on Crocker Neck Road. The road ends without a stop sign and becomes Santuit Road. There is a small parking area on the left marked Crocker Neck InterpretiveTrail. I took a map but forgot the trail stop interpretive guide. The trail was wide and headed to a marsh, there looked to be a trail up a small hill to the south, but there was another trail that went to the north. The map had shown 3 parking areas, I thought I was at the 1st but wasn’t positive, so I went north. The narrow trail went through the marsh and up to some houses, then back towards the road I came in on, ending at in an unfamiliar neighborhood. I went back to the small hill and followed that trail through the woods with Pinquickset Cove to the east. There are a couple of scenic areas with a great view. There is a viewing deck where you can sit and observe life in thr tide pool. It was being worked on that day, I would have stopped to take a picture but the guy had a chain saw and headphones on. I didn’t want to take a chance on startling him. The tail loops up to The Bay and there is a time were the two trails almost touch. There is a small beach area with parking for maybe 10 cars. The trail that leads out is the dirt road the cars use to get to the beach. I can’t see how two cars can pass each other it is so narrow. The road leads out to the main road where there is another small parking area. I walked the road back to my car.
I’m glad I went but I thought the view would be seen throughout the trail. It might have been better if I had brought the guide. There is a town way to water across the street from the parking area which could be used for boating, canoeing or kayaking.
Ratings 1- the cellar 2- shoddy 3- tolerable 4- worthy 5- wicked good
Accessibility - 4 Pretty easy but the street names change w/o ending
Parking - 3 - Only a few cars but 3 areas
Length- 3 - Not too bad if you add the trail that connects to main trail.
Degree of Difficulty- 5 easy
Extras- 4 - A couple of places to sit and enjoy the view - town way to water great kayaking or canoeing
Trail Markings- 4 - if you bring map and the guide that tells what each marker means
Trail Maintenance- 5 - well kept, being worked on that day
Variation - 2 - Pretty much up and around, but you can change it up a bit
Scenic - 3 - Not as good as expected
Worth Returning - 5 - Yes for a hike and kayak
Beach - yes but small
Facilities - no
What I like - A trail that leads to water on south side
What I don’t like- not as good a view as it could be
Overall Rating- 38 out of 50
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