Sudbury and Concord - Lincoln to Bedford - August 21, 2021

Heading out from the Lincoln Canoe Launch

Bill and I (mostly Bill) were planning a trip on the Sudbury River for RICKA. We usually run the section from Sherman’s Bridge Road in Wayland to Lowell Road in Concord with a break for lunch at Fairhaven Bay. Bill wanted to do something different, and decided to start a little further downstream at Lincoln Canoe Launch (Route 117) in Lincoln and take out at the Bedford Boat Launch (Route 225) in Bedford with a break for lunch at the Minuteman National Historical Park – about 9.5 miles. It worked out great.

The Sudbury is a National Wild and Scenic River that arises in Westborough and flows generally northeast for 41-miles to its convergence with the Assabet at Egg Rock in Concord. From there the river continues as the Concord, which flows generally north for about 16-miles until its convergence with the Merrimack River in Lowell.

The crew at the Old North Bridge

We arrived at 9:30 to run the shuttle down to Bedford. It was 10:30 before we finally got on the river. We had 8 boats (3 canoes and 5 kayaks) as we headed downstream into Fairhaven Bay. Above Fairhaven Bay are the huge wetlands in Sudbury and Wayland that are part of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Below Fairhaven Bay the river is lined with trees and houses as it runs through Concord down to Egg Rock.

From there, it is a short paddle up to the Old North Bridge and the Minute Man National Historic Park. We posed for a picture below the bridge before heading ashore for lunch. We checked out the historic sites including the Minute Man Statue, the 1832 Monument to British Solders and the Old Manse. Below the Old North Bridge the Concord River flows through the Concord Impounds of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. After that, the river opens up for the long straight stretch between Bedford and Carlisle up the Bedford Boat Launch at Route 225.

Two kayaks and one canoe on Paul's car - one trip back t the put-in

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Sudbury River Boaters Trail