East Head Pond/Reservoir
Myles Standish State Forest
Carver/Plymouth, Ma.
October 25, 2009
The Myles Standish State Forest is roughly 14, 635 acres of multy-use land that stretches across Plymouth and Carver. On this Sunday morning, Chris and I drove to one of our favorite hikes near the Carver entrance, East Head Pond, which is also known as East Head Reservoir. This three-mile loop trail around the 92-acre pond begins at the park headquarters where there are maps available as well as any updated information necessary for the hiker.
Myles Standish State Forest
East Head Pond Topo Map
Information at trailhead
Behind and to the left of this information board is the trailhead if you wish to hike it in a clockwise direction as we did.
The trail begins wide and easy and remains an easy walk all the way.
Right away there are views of East Head Pond. On this day it was 62 degrees, no wind and mostly sunny.
East Head Pond looking north
The trail runs along the shore of the pond most of the way up the west side.
Trail winds along edge of pond
View of pond through trees
There are frequent side paths down to the water. We took several, and every time we did Chris wished he had brought along his fishing pole.
Trees reflected in calm water
A fish jumps
The trail was easy to follow and is marked with blue arrows on trees.
Path through trees
About 20 minutes into the hike a side path to the right takes you to a point of land the projects midway into the pond offering nice views and a place to stop for a break.
Side path to the point
It is a short walk out to the point, with more views along the way.
Approaching the point
Sandy penninsula points into the middle of the pond
Looking across the pond from the sandy point
Looking north across the pond to where we are heading
The trail soon meets up with a road and travels along it for about 50 yards.
The trail travels along this road for a short time
It re-enters the woods at this rock.
Trail re-enters at rock
Almost immediately after re-entering the woods, there are some trees forming an arch down to the water.
Tree branches form archway
There are still some fall colors on the trees and bushes.
Still some fall color on trail
The trail once again wanders along the shoreline.
Sunlight reflects on pond
The westside trail does become wet for a little bit, but walkways cross the swampy area.
First walkway over wet area
The point was visible to the south from this path down to the water.
Looking south at the point
Chris stands next to this pine tree which more than four feet in diameter.
Chris next to large pine tree
The path moved away from the water and crosses another swampy area.
Westside trail
Plank trail through wet area
There are three separate walkways and a plank walkway through this area.
Walkway over swampy area
The west side of the East Pond hike ends at these three cement posts. The trail then turns rights and walks along an open cut.
End of west side of East Pond trail
Trail across open cut at top of pond
The trail re-enters at a blue marker on a large pine tree after about 50 yards. It took us about an hour to this point.
The trail re-enters woods at blue trail marker
Chris leads the way. On this side of the pond the trail wanders further inland and there are stands of tall pine.
Chris leads way
This is a view from the east side looking across at the point.
Looking across at the point
Most views of the water from this side are through the trees.
Most views this side through trees
The construction of this bridge looks very recent.
New bridge
This big oak tree caught my attention. I took several pictures from different angles.
Orange colored leaves on tree
Tree reflecting in water
This swampy area looks like it might once have been land. There are still stumps standing in the middle.
Swampy area
Stumps in middle of swampy area
There is a nice stretch of small white pines as the trail briefly turns away from the water.
Trail among small white pines
A last look across this boggy inlet toward the pond.
A last look across the swamp
The three-mile loop trail ends at Fearing Pond Road, a short walk to the Park Headquarters. If you were to walk the trail counter-clockwise, this sign would indicate where the trail entered the woods.
Easthead nature trail sign on Fearing Pond Road
There is a small dam that no longer appears to be functional. A new culvert has been cut beside it to allow water from East Head Pond to flow out and into the cranberry bogs to the south.
Old dam
A final look at East Head Pond from the top of the old dam.
View to the northeast from old dam
With some brief side trips, our hike took an hour and 50 minutes. This loop is popular in the summer with walkers and dogs. There are also signs that a few riders may have strayed off the bridle paths.
Once back at the truck, we took a look at the map and decided to explore a little more of Myles Standish State Forest. There is plenty of room to wander and we found a few spots to which we’ll probably return.
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
