Neponset River Trail, kind of

Backyard Bird Count weekend and all, I wanted to add some sea birds to my list. Closest access point--Boston Harbor off of Dorchester (about 20 minutes away). So there I went, planning to hit Pope John Paul II Park and pick up the Neponset River Trail.

Note: You will not get to Pope John Paul II Park if you are coming from the south on 93. There is no exit 12. So cut your losses and be happy with tiny Victory Road Park, your first right off of exit 13.

Victory Road Park is part of Boston Harborwalk (though it doesn't connect with anything else I could see). It is also nominally part of the Neponset River system, located on an inlet where the river meets the harbor. Mostly used by dogwalkers, it has also attracted creative types who have fashioned interesting sculptures composed of refuse and other material from the peninsula (it is a former landfill).


You will see the normal harbor-side waterfowl--black ducks, buffleheads (especially buffleheads),

common loons (my new challenge photo bird).

In the distance you can see eiders, common (or are those barrows?) goldeneye, red-breasted mergansers.


After walking the peninsula, I drove down to Tenean Beach--the official start of the Neponset River Trail. Lots of ring-billed gulls on the beach.

From that point, the "trail" is really just a walk through the neighborhood. There aren't river views until you get to the railroad bridge. So I got in my car and went back home via 203. I had fully intended to go to Squantum Point Park, but you have to bear left at the unmarked intersection with 3A south that you can't see until you are through the intersection...etc.