Walking Guide to Woods Hole
There are so many places to walk, it is hard to know where to start.
Juniper Point, Penzance Point, Nobska Light, Gansett and Little Gansett,
around the Eel Pond...the exotic names make you think of India, China
or at least a great Gilbert & Sullivan play. The names are English
versions of Wampanoag words (Sippewissett means "little cove" or "little
river") or ideas brought back by whalers and China Traders -- the early
American adventurers of the sea who dominated this little village centuries ago.
The key to walking Woods Hole is just to open your eyes and start. Park the car in the driveway and plan to get everywhere on foot. As the week progresses, you start to feel the relaxation creeping into the farthest reaches of your brain and you wonder -- could it be all this walking?
The key to walking Woods Hole is just to open your eyes and start. Park the car in the driveway and plan to get everywhere on foot. As the week progresses, you start to feel the relaxation creeping into the farthest reaches of your brain and you wonder -- could it be all this walking?
Walking Past the Eel Pond towards Penzance Point
Let's
start in the middle of the village, say 28 Water Street where the Woods
Hole Inn dominates the corner of Luscombe Avenue and Water Street. From
here, walk west on Water Street towards the drawbridge, then all the way
to the end of Water Street where the Aquarium is perched. Turn right
onto Albatross Street and enjoy the views of the harbor in both
directions. This is the heart of the MBL campus, with the labs on your
right and the dormitories in one block along MBL Street facing Eel
Pond. You will continue on Albatross to Spencer Baird where you will
take a left. Then take your first right followed by a left onto Gosnold
Road. This will take you past Stoney Beach and a series of lovely old
shingle style summer "cottages," as even the largest homes were
called back in the day.
Continue on Gosnold to Penzance Point. Although it says private way, the Penzancers are kind enough to allow well-behaved strollers on the main road, so walk with purpose past the guard gate and explore this incredible enclave. The end is a mile up from the guard gate, and there you turn back. You will glimpse views of the busy Woods Hole passage which in summer is filled with boaters, and there is a wonderful view back over the marsh.
Continue on Gosnold to Penzance Point. Although it says private way, the Penzancers are kind enough to allow well-behaved strollers on the main road, so walk with purpose past the guard gate and explore this incredible enclave. The end is a mile up from the guard gate, and there you turn back. You will glimpse views of the busy Woods Hole passage which in summer is filled with boaters, and there is a wonderful view back over the marsh.
Exploring Juniper Point
Equally close to the middle of the village is the lovely residential neighborhood called Juniper Point. From the middle of Woods Hole, walk up Water Street to where the bridge
crosses the parking lot. Before it
dips down the hill to the ferry parking lot, you will see a sign for
Juniper Point and you can walk out that road and look around. On one
side is a lovely old lilly pond, beautifully landscaped and
enshrouded with old-growth trees. You will glimpse houses and laundry lines through the trees, but the houses themselves have the ocean views. Turn back and retrace your steps back out then turn right to get to Little Harbor Road. You can not see the water at first because of a high wall
keeping you out of the Coast Guard Station, but carry on and you will
find the Soft Earth pottery studio and lovely views of Martha's Vineyard looking
out over Little Harbor. Push to the end for a
great view of the famous Airplane House.
Walk to Nobska Beach
Leave from the Steamship Authority in Woods Hole and get on the
bike path leading past Little Harbor. After you pass under the second
bridge, take a dirt path to your right that leads up to the Church of
the Messiah on Church Street. Follow Church for about a quarter of a
mile -- sadly the sidewalk ends but there is a grass berm where it used
to be (before a member of the 1% built that stone wall) that is decent
for walking on and beats being in the road. The beach sneeks up
on you from the trees, and oh what a beach it is. The southwesterly
breeze rakes her long, lean shoreline and her edges are delineated by
outcroppings of glacial rock. On the bluff, there is a lighthouse that
has guided sailors past this treacherous point for centuries and will
remind you of Wyeth or Hopper. Down on the sand, you can watch the
ferries to Martha's Vineyard march in their stately fashion across
Vineyard Sound, and chuckle to yourself about the crowds jostling their
way over as you relax on this incredible beach.
