Boston Harbor Islands
Visiting the state parks in Boston's harbor
Our Experience:
We took a leisurely pace getting over to the islands one fine Friday morning on a long weekend (see more pictures of the islands). Our ferry pulled up to Lovells Island, where we would be camping, at around 2:30 in the afternoon, just ahead of a menacing black storm cloud.
The campsites on Lovells are tucked into the trees at one end of the island, and we selected one quickly, pitched our tent, and ducked inside to wait out the storm. We emerged later to blue skies and began to explore the island. Lovells has a history of military fortification from the Civil War to WWII, so old overgrown bunkers abound. We climbed around the ramparts and into the gun turrets, now overgrown with grasses and sumac.
On the far side of the island from the ferry is a supervised swimming beach, which is also a good place for exploring small tide pools and general monkeying around. This side of the island faces the open sea and if you don’t look to the right, where you can see the skyline, airport and gas plant, you would almost think you were on a remote Atlantic island.
In the evening we took our dinner down to the ferry side of the beach, which is lined with a row of small sand dunes. There we skipped rocks, tried to avoid disturbing nesting terns, and enjoyed the sun setting over the city skyline.
In the morning we caught the first ferry off Lovells and from there ferry hopped around on a “scenic” tour of the other four islands. No other people seemed to be enjoying this boat trip for the sheer trip alone, but we at least got a look at all the islands, which is more than most do in a day. We spent brief stints on Grape and Peddocks before returning to George and catching the ferry back to the city.
Directions How to Get There:
Take the T to the Aquarium stop. As you exit, walk towards the wharf, but before you get there, take a left and walk through the lobby of the Marriott to the other side where you will find the ticket booth and dock of the Boston Harbor Islands ferry. A $10 will get you a round trip ticket to George’s Island, from where you can catch free smaller ferries to the other 4 islands.
Make a reservation to camp on a Boston harbor island.
16 Pictures from the Boston Harbor Islands
The Different Islands:
Grape Island - This Island is the closest to the mainland of all the islands, and the bay around it is absent of waves and more of a green than a deeper ocean blue. The island itself is a solid shrub forest, carved up in a series of mown grass trails that criss-cross the island. There is a small grape arbor down by the docks where you arrive. While on the boat to Grape, we heard many people making plans to eat any and all berries found on the island.
Peddocks - Apart from Georges Island, Peddocks is the other main hub where you can catch the smaller ferry to Bumpkin and Grape Islands. The camping here is on the lawn overlooking the water. Lovely walks can be had along the tree covered lanes that lead past rotting wood and brick officers quarters, hospitals and recreation halls.
Bumpkin - This island is covered with Sumac, though the number of people headed this way with bags of charcoal and beer seemed to suggest at least some part of the island is pleasant.
Georges - There is no camping on this island, and apart from being an old fort, it is the only island where lobster and ice cream are served.
