Goose Cove Reservation features wooded upland, rocky shoreline, and tidal mudflats. Geologic features include Cape Ann granite, glacial erratics, glacial outwash, and moraine. The scenery is some of the most beautiful and tranquil of all Greenbelt properties, and provides an opportunity to study varied plant and animal life. The shoreline along the cove offers a chance to find a variety of plant and animal life. Spartina grasses blanket the saltmarsh and the well adapted brown rockweed kelp is visible floating up and down with the tide. Watch for deer and fisher along upland trails and look for otter tracks on the mudflats or their slide marks on the snow and ice in winter. Shorebirds such as greater and lesser yellowlegs, least sandpipers as well as egrets and herons can be seen often at low tide on the mud flats. In winter at high tide, look for waterfowl like bufflehead and common golden-eye diving for food.
Address
82 Eastern Avenue Gloucester, MA 1930
Driving Directions
From 128, at Grant Circle in Gloucester: Drive north on Washington Street, Route 127, toward Lanesville for 1.9 miles. Landmarks you will pass are: the hospital on your left, the Ralph O’Malley Middle School on your right. The Goose Cove parking area is a quarter mile past Willow Rest on the right. This is a blind right turn that could be easy to miss. If you pass a small brick municipal building on the right, you have gone too far. Park in the dirt lot. Parking is limited to 5 cars.
Notes & Advisories
Categories
- Natural Resources
- Parks
- Wildlife Viewing