Hot Day on the Sudbury – August 20, 2022

Heading out into the marshlands

A trip in August in the wide open marshlands of the Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge on the Sudbury River seemed like a good idea when Bill and I put it on the RICKA Flatwater calendar back in April. We knew there would be water, but we hadn't thought about how hot it can get in the dog days of summer, or the total lack of shade.

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.

I

Me and Bill in the Spirit II

n the towns of Sudbury and Wayland, the Sudbury River flows through the wetlands of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. It is a beautiful area that provides habitat for migratory bids and many other animals. Bill and I have been doing RICKA trips on the Sudbury for the past couple of years.  

We put-in at 9:30 at the Lincoln Canoe Launch (Route 117). With the ongoing drought, the water at the launch itself was a low, but the river was fine. We paddled upstream into the marshes for about 4-miles before turning around and stopping for lunch under the bridge at Sherman’s Bridge Road - the only shade we could find. Temps hit the low 90’s, so it was HOT out on the water, but a trip to Bedford Farms in Concord for ice cream made up for it. John put together this video:

Sudbury River from John DaSilva

Links:

My Pictures
Steve’s Pictures

John's Video

OARS for the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers