If you don't know, you don't deserve to know

During our recent kayak trips on the Concord River, we decided we should get to know the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge from the land side. The first motivation was practical. The map showed that it had a rest room, and kayakers generally find it useful to know where all the available facilities are. The second motivation was just to see the place. It is well-marked along the water, and a couple of kayak/canoe landings are available for the curious.

We did a little homework. The first returns were discouraging, suggesting only 1.5 miles of trails. I prodded a little further and found that the current trail distance is nearer three miles, including side trails. In addition, a portion of the Bay Circuit Trail is immediately next the Refuge parking lot, which allowed us to run the outing up to six miles or so.

Not familiar with the Bay Circuit? You should be. This is a relatively young and ambitious idea, whose purpose is to run a much larger emerald necklace around greater Boston, linking existing conservation lands, local, state and national parks, walkways, bike trails and right-of-way easements. The goal is an off-road foot and bicycle route from Plum Island in the north to Plymouth Bay in the south. The idea has some rough edges, as I'll show in a later comment.

Back to Great Meadows NWR. In a foolish moment, I left the GPS at home. The maps were clear, right? It's federal property, right? It'll be as easy to find as any other Concord, MA landmark, right?

Not.

There are a few towns in Massachusetts with worse cases of galloping honkyism than my place of residence: not many, I grant you, but a few. Concord has to be among them. We cruised west on route 62, reasoning that we would find the NWR sign before we reached the centre of town. Nothing. Not a whiff, not a hint. After trying Monument Street (no luck), we returned. Whilst cruising around Concord's traffic oval (that's what it is), my spouse spotted an NWR sign just too late to make the turn. Around the oval again; now we followed the sign, reasoning that we had somehow missed the sign at the entrance.

When we recrossed the Bedford town line, it was clear we had not. It was about time to do either the reasonable (dig the detail maps out of the backpack) or the unthinkable (ask for directions).

When I pulled over at a farm stand to get at the maps, my wife hopped out to ask for directions. (I just want it clear who was responsible for that.) Well, bless the old gentleman in the farm stand. He hopped in his truck and said "follow me." Which we did, about half a mile back toward Concord. Here, we turned right onto a completely undistinguished suburban street, where there was no sign for the refuge. Our guide signalled with his hands and brake lights when we reached the entrance near the end of this road, marked with a small brown sign. It is very narrow, hardly more than a car width. You can tell how much the neighbours love having a National Wildlife Refuge next door by the massive stockade fences that flank the entrance.

So, just to flip the finger at the white bread of Concord, here are directions for those of you who, like me, think public property should be publicly accessible.

From Concord centre:

1. Starting on Lexington Road (Rte 2A) go < 0.1 mi to Monument Square.
2. Continue on Monument Square (RT-62 E).
3. Turn right on Bedford Street (RT-62 E); go 1.3 mi.
4. Turn left on Monsen Road - go 0.2 mi. The road bears sharply right.
5. Arrive at 185 Monsen Road, on the left, between the stockade fences.

From Bedford, MA:

1. take Rte 4-225 from Rte 128 through Bedford Center.
2. Bear left on Rte 62 W (Concord Road); go 2.2 mi.
3. Continue on Rte 62 W another 0.7 mi.
4. Turn right on Monsen Road - go 0.2 mi. The road bears sharply right.
5. Arrive at 185 Monsen Road, on the left, between the stockade fences.

Coordinates for GPS types.

The turn from Route 62 onto Monsen Road:
42 deg 28 min 9.9 sec North
71 deg 19 min 36 sec West

Entrance to Great Meadows NWR:
42 deg 28 min 26.95 sec North
71 deg 19 min 38.87 sec West

I trust you do not drive an urban assault vehicle, because if you do, you'll find the entrance a very tight squeeze. The parking lot is, um, intimate. That alone should be enough to settle the residents of Concord who appear to be afraid that the street and the refuge will be overrun by the masses.

Is it worth it? Well, we had hardly shut the car doors when we saw a red-tail hawk take a mouse within ten feet of the parking lot, then perch on a handy limb to eat it. November is certainly late in the year for bird life, but the ducks and geese were unconcerned about that. Much else visible, but no ravening hordes. Oh yes: it's half a mile from the kayak landing to the rest rooms. The National Historic Park is a better bet. And we stopped at the farm stand for apples and vegetables on the way out of town.

I've run on, so Bay Circuit later.