Charles - Needham to Wellesley - September 3, 2022

In the "new to me" Capella

I had put a RICKA flatwater trip on the calendar in the spring, and my original plan was to do a shuttle trip on the Medfield to Natick section of the Charles. When I got an email from Steve saying that the river was choked with weeds above the Farm Road/Bridge Street bridge I had to change my plans. I decided to do an up-and-back trip in the “Bays Region” from Needham to Wellesley.

Under the Centre Street Bridge

We met at 10:00 to launch our boats at the Charles River Peninsula (87 Fisher Street, Needham, MA). In this section, the river is relatively undeveloped except for some large houses as the river flows through Dover/Sherborn. The river starts off as marshland, but turns to woodlands as you get above the Dover Street Bridge. After a break for lunch at the Elm Bank Reservation (900 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA) we headed back downstream – 11 easy miles in my new Capella.

Skye, Cheryl and Erik - the three Capellas

Links:

My Pictures

Charles River Peninsula

Elm Bank Reservation

Keeping the Circle Small - Charles River Bays Region - June 13, 2020

Bays Region

When I think of the Charles River, I usually think of the section from Medfield to Natick since that was the first section that I did, but there are lots of nice sections of the Charles. The "early morning paddling crew" got out yesterday for a run on the Charles through the “Bays Region” in Needham and Dover. I did this trip several years ago with the RICKA crew, but we put in at the other end at Elm Bank Reservation (900 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA). 

The Charles arises in Hopkinton and meanders 80-miles on its 30-mile trip to Boston Harbor. We had the place to ourselves at 8:00 when we put in at the boat ramp at the Charles River Peninsula (87 Fisher Street, Needham, MA). We paddled a short ways downstream under the South Street Bridge to check out the Cochrane Dam before heading upstream. In this section, the river is relatively undeveloped except for some large houses as the river flows through a couple of the ritziest towns in MA - Needham, Dover and Wellesley. We went upstream about 3.5-miles to the Dover Road/Charles River Road Bridge where we turned around. When we got back to the put in at around 11:00 the place was packed.

The crew - Erik, Conrad, Al and Jonathan

Links:

My Pictures

Charles River Peninsula

Charles - Wellesley to Needham - October 17, 2015

Bill and I had agreed to do some tandem paddling, so I loaded the Spirit II on the rack and headed off the to the Charles River. We joined RICKA for a round-trip from the Elm Bank Reservation (900 Washington Street) in Wellesley to the Cochrane Dam on Fisher Street (Charles River Peninsula Access Road) in Needham – about 11 miles. The river is relatively undeveloped except for a few large houses, and the foliage was great with lots of yellows, golds and reds. Nice trip.

Links:
My Pictures