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• SATURDAY Morning Hike- Haskins Park to Briar Swamp and Whale's Jaw

  • When
    Saturday, October 03, 2026
  •  
    10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Location
    Rockport, MA
  • Spaces left
    6

  Register

  Join us for a hike in the Rockport and Gloucester Woods, visiting Whale's Jaw and Briar Swamp.

  POSTPONED TO SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 DUE TO WEATHER!

  Our route takes us from Haskins Park at the top of Summit Ave, Rockport, around Briar Swamp, joining the Luce Trail as it makes its way past the WPA dike and Whale's Jaw to Squam Path and Anne's Path.

  Click HERE to see a map of the hiking route in Gaia GPS.

  This is a hike on mixed terrain, with both easy sections and more difficult rocky hillside and swamp-side sections. There may be a few wet spots.  Total distance is just under 3 miles; allow about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete.

  
  

  Meeting Spot:   

  We will meet at the parking area at Haskins Park at the top of Summit Ave in Rockport.  See the location HERE in Google Maps.

  
  

  Please arrive early (we recommend planning to arrive between 9:50 and 9:55 am in order to be ready for the group's 10 am departure).  The hike will depart promptly at 10 am.

  Please note that dogs are not permitted on this hike.  If you are interested in getting notified of Dog-Friendly hikes with the Cape Ann Sunday Hikes group, you can join their Google group list from The Cape Ann Sunday Hikes home page.

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• 8th Annual Ted Tarr Memorial Cross- Cape Ann Hike

  • When
    Sunday, October 11, 2026
  •  
    8:45 AM - 2:00 PM
  • Location
    Seaview St. Rockport, MA
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  Join Cape Ann Trail Stewards for our 8th Annual  Sea-to-Sea 7.3-mile Ted Tarr Memorial Cross- Cape Ann Hike, from Cape Hedge Beach in Rockport (Massachusetts Bay) to Halibut Point State Park (Ipswich Bay), through the Rockport South Woods and Dogtown via the "Luce Trail".

  The hike will take us about 5 hours through some challenging and varied terrain (including a number of steep inclines, boulder fields, and wet areas!), and  includes a stop mid-way (at the Whale's Jaw boulder in the middle of Dogtown) for lunch-- please bring a picnic lunch for yourself!  This hike is NOT for novice hikers!

  A link to a map of the route can be found here.

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Meeting Spot:

  Please arrive at 8:45.  The hike will depart promptly at 9AM from the Cape Hedge Beach parking lot, at the end of Seaview St. (which is off Thatcher Rd./ Route 127A in Rockport).

  Note: Since this is a one-way hike, we will arrange for some of our participants to park at the endpoint (Halibut Point State Park) and carpool others back to their cars at Cape Hedge Beach at the conclusion of the hike.

  You may email us at contact@capeanntrailstewards.org if you are able to help with this carpooling from Halibut Point (especially people who have MA state park passes!).  Thank you!

  Please also note that dogs are not permitted on this hike.

  
  

  History of the Ted Tarr Memorial Cross Cape Ann Hike and the Luce Trail:

  This annual hike was established by Ted Tarr, a beloved past board member of Cape Ann Trail Stewards and well-known Cape Ann local activist, environmentalist, and hike leader. In 2019, we re-named the Cross Cape Ann hike in Ted’s memory.

  The  hike traverses the entire length of the Luce Trail, which was named for Dorothy Luce, longtime member of the Rockport Conservation Commission and original initiator of the Sunday Morning Hike series back in the 1960’s. Ted Tarr took over the Sunday hikes for Dorothy in the 1970’s and he led them for the next 40 years.

  
  

  (Photo from 1975 of Dorothy Luce and Ted Tarr inaugurating and "cutting [the] final twig" along this Massachusetts Bay to Ipswich Bay Trail [likely the current "Luce Trail"];  photo taken along the west ledge of Cape Pond)

  
  

  For more details on Dorothy Luce, see a Facebook Post from 2023 by Mark Carlotto on the Friends of Dogtown public Facebook page.

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