Quabbin Reservoir

On Easter Sunday, after a low-key Easter egg hunt and a pancake breakfast at home, we opted to get outside. We took a little drive to explore the Quabbin Reservoir. This was our first time visiting this area together and it was the best way to celebrate the holiday.

After a quick stop at the visitor center to pick up a trail map, add a stamp to our Massachusetts DCR Passport, and check out the wildlife displays, we took a little stroll to the top of Winsor Dam and marvel at the engineering feat.

From there we hopped in the car for a quick drive to the start of the trail head we chose. We pulled off just before the bridge on Route 9 that separates Ware and Blechertown and started down the Swift River Trail (approx 2 miles round trip) which follows along the river to the base of the land side of the dam.

Here Stew stopped off to fly fish in the river while Logan and I enjoyed a picnic lunch. While Stew fished Logan and I continued our hike with a very steep climb to the top of Winsor Dam. Here, we laid under the sky and pointed out shapes in the clouds before running back down the hill to join up with Stew again to hike back out to our car.

The reservoir is about 3 hours round trip from our house so this was a full day trip for us, but totally worth the drive on a gorgeous spring day!