Lake Rico in Massachusetts

Trip Overview

Lake Rico is a delightful lake to spend the better part of a day paddling. It is practically undeveloped, having only a couple of homes on its shores while most of its shores are within the Massassoit State Park. There are no gas-powered motors allowed, somewhat of an anomaly on a fairly large Massachusetts lake.

The lake had plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. There are several marshes along its shores that are not to be missed. We saw an abundance of turtles sunbathing the day we were there and a variety of birds.

The Massassoit Park shores offer plenty of locations to pull over for lunch, for a hike (there appears to be a trail that goes along quite a bit of the shore) or just to take in the quiet.

CAUTION: We were there on a near perfect day, but we all agreed that a windy day would be rather treacherous on the lake as several areas are pretty wide open.

If you're anywhere near this Lake with a vessel on your vehicle, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Accommodations:

No facilities at the put-ins. The state park has facilities but also charges a day-use fee during peak periods.

Fees:

There's a day-use fee at the state park if you are interested in entering it. Otherwise, no fees/permits required.

Directions:

I-495 to exit 5. Take route 18 south and take your right about 1/2 mile down, following signs for Massassoit State Park. About 2 miles down, the entrance to the park will be on your left. There are two put-ins to the lake about 0.2 miles further on your left. You have to carry your boat down a hill but it's not difficult.