Saquish Neck - Duxbury Beach in Massachusetts

Trip Overview

My husband and I were looking to combine a kayak day trip with a picnic lunch on the beach. We had found very little online about paddling in Duxbury Bay, but decided to give it a try, as the day was scheduled to be warm and sunny. Quite by accident, we found a lovely parking lot at the corner of Washington Street and River Lane near the site of Duxbury's first Fire House. There is a small floating dock or an area off to the side where you can easily get kayak's into the water - if you don't mind getting your feet wet. Another put in spot we'd heard is near the inland side of the Powder Point Bridge. We definitely saw plenty of vehicles over there, and it would have made for a shorter trip.

From where we put in, if arriving on an incoming tide, it might be nice to paddle under the small Washington Street bridge into the area known as Bluefish Lake. However, we were determined to make it to the beach. We had about a one mile paddle through the calm part of Duxbury Bay - past some boats moored, and some lovely homes. We rounded the peninsula known as Powder Point and this is where we hit significant chop. From here across the major portion of the bay is about another mile, not too many boats, but apparently the wind can really get kicked up in here. We made it safely to the far shore and stashed the kayaks in the brush. (About one hour of moderate paddling). This might have been a perfectly acceptable lunch spot, but I am a beach fanatic, and had to see what the beach looked like on the other side of Saquish Neck. There is a walkway across the dunes just a short distance from the end of the bridge. It was well worth the trip. The beach is just lovely, and I would love to try kayaking on the ocean side, at some point, as it was much calmer. The beach was not very crowded in the direction of the bridge side, but the far end of this Duxbury beach looks startling like an SUV dealership full of side-by-side tailgaters!

We stayed on the beach until nearly 3 p.m. (High tide was at 12:30) and then headed back across the bay. The chop was still a bit exhilarating at times, and we definitely were paddling against the wind and the current heading back. Still, we were back to the van, and had the kayaks loaded by just a bit after 4 p.m.

We are really looking forward to returning early in the morning one day this fall, to see if we can beat the wind across the bay, and tailgaters to the beach!

Accommodations:

Floating dock, and path to the bay. No other facilities.

Fees:

None were posted

Directions:

Take Route 3 to exit 10 and follow Route 3A/Tremont Street into Duxbury (3 miles). Right on Harrison Street - .9 miles. Go Left on Washington Street - go .4 miles. The old Firehouse #1 will be on your right, before you go over the small bridge.