Oxbow Wildlife Refuge - Nashua River - May 16, 2020

Heading out

If this was a normal year we would be getting ready for our spring camping trip, but it is not a normal year. I was glad to get out yesterday for a trip with the crew at the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge. Located in Harvard, MA along 7-miles of the South Branch of the Nashua River, the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge is one of a series of eight refuges (including the Great Meadow Wildlife Refuge on the Sudbury River) operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that make up the Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Oxbow was established in 1974 from land that was previously part of Fort Devens.

The South Branch of the Nashua River arises at the Wachusett Reservoir in Clinton, MA and flows generally northward for 56 miles through north-central MA and southern NH before emptying into the Merrimack River in Nashua, NH. The only other section of the South Branch that I had paddled is the section from Groton to Peppered. I have also paddled the section of the North Branch from Leominster to Lancaster. The North Branch arises west of Fitchburg and flows generally southward for 30 miles until it joins the South Branch near Lancaster.

Checking out the Bald Eagle

There are two boat launches in the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge. The northern boat launch is located at the Bill Ashe Visitor Facility at 80 Hospital Road in Devens, MA. We used the southern boat launch located off Still River Depot Road in Harvard, MA.

From the put-in we paddled upstream about a mile before blow-downs turned us around. We took a quick break at the chapel by the river that is part of the St. Benedict Abbey. From there, we paddled back downstream, past the put-in and down to another mile-and-a-half to the nesting area where we could see a Bald Eagle. Trip was a little over 5-miles.


Nashua River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Links:
My Pictures
My Video
Al's post at Trashpaddler.com
Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge