Mashpee River Reservation is a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

Mashpee, Massachusetts Mashpee ( ) is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod. The population was 15,060 as of 2020. The town is the site of the headquarters and most members of the Mas ...

on the

Mashpee River The Mashpee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tidal river on Cape Cod in Mashpee, Massachusetts Mashpee ( ) is a New England town, town in Ba ...

The Trustees of Reservations ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

owns and maintains the park. Pristine

shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, natural

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

areas, and excellent

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

make the Mashpee River one of Massachusetts' finest sources of sea-run

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

. Since at least 1915, spirited

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manage ...

efforts have led to the protection of this five-mile

tidal river A tidal river is a river whose flow and level are caused by tides. A section of a larger river affected by the tides is a tidal reach, but it may sometimes be considered a tidal river if it had been given a separate and another title name. Gene ...

which begins at

Mashpee and Wakeby Ponds Mashpee Pond and Wakeby Pond are adjoining ponds in Mashpee and Sandwich, Massachusetts. When considered together, these two ponds cover and constitute the largest freshwater pond on Cape Cod. This pair is deep at its deepest point. The F ...

and empties into Pirate's Cove on

Popponesset Bay Popponesset Bay System is a group of bays located at the towns of Mashpee (north & west) and Barnstable (east), on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with a southern shore bounded by water from Nantucket Sound. Popponesset Bay has the following tributary ...

. This area has two miles of

trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

through the Mashpee River Reservation plus additional connecting trails on property of other conservation organizations and town and

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

properties. The Reservation's

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

and

trails form a link in the Cape Cod Pathways.

History

In the early decades of the 20th century, John W. Farley, an avid

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, acquired contiguous parcels of land along the Mashpee River and established a small

campground Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

and

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

launch. He donated this land to the public in 1959 and an additional grant by Pemberton Whitcomb in 1979 increased the park's size. The Trustees of Reservations purchased more land in 1998.

References

External links

The Trustees of Reservations: Mashpee River Reservation
{{coord, 41, 37, 22, N, 70, 28, 51, W, type:landmark, display=title The Trustees of Reservations Open space reserves of Massachusetts Protected areas of Barnstable County, Massachusetts Protected areas established in 1959 1959 establishments in Massachusetts