Egg Rock
Encyclopedia
Egg Rock is an outcrop of Silurian
Straw Hollow Diorite
at the confluence of the Assabet
and Sudbury
rivers, where they form the Concord River
in Concord, Massachusetts
. The outcrop is located on a roughly oval intermittent island of about 100 by 50 meters. Egg Rock is usually accessible using foot trails over land, but during high river levels the island is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. The highest point of Egg Rock is about 39 meters above mean sea level and about 6 meters above normal river level.
The United States Geological Survey
(USGS) Geographic Names Information System
(GNIS) includes Egg Rock as GNIS feature 617309, classified as an island. In the GNIS database as of February, 2010, the listed position (latitude 42.4645383, longitude -71.3592266) is misplaced by about 125 meters to the southwest, and is not actually located on the intermittent island. A more correct position is latitude 42.4651, longitude -71.3585.
On the hill Nashawtuck
at the meeting of the rivers
and along the banks
lived the Indian owners of
Musketaquid
before the white men came
The significance of the inscription would have been clear to most people familiar with local lore at the time it was carved, although it may seem cryptic now to many people who are unfamiliar with Concord's history and geography.
The native Massachusett
tribe used the Algonquian
name Musketaquid for the surrounding area and its riverside meadows; the Algonquian word for grass is muskeht. The Concord River and even the town of Concord were often called Musketaquid by writers in the nineteenth century, as may be noted in Henry David Thoreau
's comment quoted below.
The principal local settlement of the Massachusett tribe which remained in 1635 (after plague decimated the original population in the preceding two decades) was nearby on the gentle slopes of Nashawtuc Hill, whose crest is about 500 meters southwest of Egg Rock. Negotiations initiated by Simon Willard
with leaders of the tribe gave English settlers the right to live in the area, which came to be called Concord.
The importance of Egg Rock to Concord's historical self-image may be seen in the fact that at the time of its execution in 1885, the Egg Rock inscription was one of just seven town-wide "lasting memorials of stone and bronze" which were designed and commissioned by the "Tablet sub-committee" of the Concord Celebration Committee. As Charles Hosmer Walcott, chairman of the Tablet sub-committee, declaimed in a speech he delivered during the Sept. 12, 1885 celebration, the seven memorials "form an epitome of the town's history for a century and a half -- from the beginning of the plantation to the war of the revolution
." Concerning the inscription on Egg Rock itself, he continued:
The inscription is carved into the eastern face of Egg Rock, where it is most easily seen from a boat in the Sudbury River.
Henry David Thoreau
beautifully described the gentle character of the three rivers (the Sudbury
, Assabet
, and Concord
rivers) near Concord, Massachusetts
in his 1849 book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
:
The typically tranquil quality of the rivers has helped make boating on the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet rivers a favorite pastime and social activity for many Concord area residents since well before Thoreau's time. Egg Rock's location at the confluence of these rivers, and nearly in the center of Concord
's land area, has resulted in its status as a notable landmark for many years.
Thoreau surveyed Nashawtuc Hill in December 1856 and January 1857, producing a map which included Egg Rock. During this time, in a January 16, 1857 entry in his journal, he wrote:
Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson
are reported to have sometimes enjoyed sitting on Egg Rock, watching the water flow by, and Daniel Chester French
, who sculpted the sitting figure of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial
as well as the Minute Man statue just downstream from Egg Rock at the Old North Bridge, breakfasted there occasionally.
In recognition of its significance in Thoreau's life around Concord, the Thoreau Society
, in its annual gatherings, has included a trip to Egg Rock among its several days of annual activities.
In the first stanza
of his romantic 1875 poem “Floating Hearts,” George Bradford Bartlett considered Egg Rock among the major riverside vistas of Concord, alongside the Minute Man statue at the Old North Bridge and The Old Manse
:
The natural beauty of the rivers around Egg Rock has been extolled by several of America's most well-known authors. Of the stretch of the Assabet River
immediately upstream of Egg Rock, Nathaniel Hawthorne
wrote:
Beginning in the 1870s, many Concord area residents participated in social events on the rivers around Egg Rock.
Egg Rock itself was a much-enjoyed location for holiday picnics and breakfasts in the summer. During that period, a “Carnival of Boats” was organized, with as many as 8000 participants and spectators, by one account. The boats gathered around Egg Rock and floated down the Concord River, many bearing Chinese-style lanterns and elaborate decorations similar to parade floats.
Although the clearing of surrounding woodlands and the building of the Reformatory Branch
railroad disrupted the pristine atmosphere of Egg Rock's surroundings in the later 1800s, by the beginning of the 21st Century, the area had largely returned to a more natural state. The designation of the Sudbury
, Assabet
, and Concord
rivers as a part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1999, and the permanent protection of many tracts of land bordering the rivers, appear to ensure long-term preservation of many of the natural values of this beautiful area.
Egg Rock continues to play a significant part in more modern celebrations of the waters surrounding Concord. The annual River Fest celebrated along the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord rivers often includes an event at Egg Rock to perform “a blessing to honor the spirit of the river and the river of life." Egg Rock has been the site of a winter solstice
ceremony sponsored by the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, which included a bonfire. It has served as the starting point for an annual fund raising event produced by the local Milldam Nursery School, in which nearly 2000 yellow rubber duck
s float down the Concord River from Egg Rock to the Lowell Road boat launch ramp, about 300 meters downstream.
Beyond events on the rivers themselves, Egg Rock appears regularly in a variety of forms in the local cultural scene. It has been the subject of several artistic works, including a painting by Lexington
artist Michael Cunliffe Thompson entitled “Egg Rock,” which uses the Egg Rock inscription text to form its top and bottom borders, a large and striking painting by Concord
artist Ilana Manolson in 2009, also entitled “Egg Rock,” and a similarly titled en plein air
oil painting by Gregory Dysart of Natick
. Egg Rock is also the inspiration for the name of a Concord area classical music quartet, the Egg Rock Quartet, which in 2009 performed “a lively evening of chamber music“ for the Concord Art Association.
. Egg Rock is a popular picnic spot, with a few benches located on the higher ground.
Except during times of high river levels, Egg Rock is easily accessible by foot or off-road bicycle as well as from the water. Egg Rock itself is located within Concord's Egg Rock conservation land, an eight-acre (three-hectare) parcel donated to the town in 1942 through a bequest from Fannie Eleanor Wheeler. It is an easy (1 km) walk from Concord center or the Concord railway station
on the Fitchburg Line
from Boston. The Town of Concord suggests that visitors who travel by automobile to visit Egg Rock should park on Nashawtuc Road after crossing the Sudbury River, then walk about 200 meters along the driveway marked "Squaw Sachem Trail" to a path on the right alongside a split-rail fence, which leads to Egg Rock. The round trip walk averages about 30 minutes.
The trail to Egg Rock crosses a short segment of the Reformatory Branch Rail Trail. This segment runs through woodland about 1.5 kilometers to the northwest and about 200 meters to the east from the intersection; in both directions that trail ends at riverbanks where railroad bridges formerly stood. The rail trail
to the northwest connects to other trails in the Simon Willard
Woods and Korbet conservation lands, and provides good access to the scenic Assabet River
bank. Beyond the former railroad bridge over the Sudbury River to the east, the Reformatory Branch Rail Trail continues for 7 kilometers as a dirt track to connect to the Minuteman Bikeway, a paved bikeway providing access from the Boston area.
The map for this location which is available from OpenStreetMap (via the "Coordinates" link in the sidebar) provides detailed GPS
-based tracks for the footpaths.
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
Straw Hollow Diorite
Diorite
Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...
at the confluence of the Assabet
Assabet River
The Assabet River is a small river about west of Boston, Massachusetts. The river is long. The , headquartered in West Concord, Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the natural and recreational features of the Assabet River and...
and Sudbury
Sudbury River
The Sudbury River is a tributary of the Concord River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.Originating in the Cedar Swamp in Westborough, Massachusetts, near the boundary with Hopkinton, it meanders generally northeast to its confluence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock in...
rivers, where they form the Concord River
Concord River
The Concord River is a tributary of the Merrimack River in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. The river drains a small rural and suburban region northwest of Boston. One of the most famous small rivers in U.S...
in Concord, Massachusetts
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
. The outcrop is located on a roughly oval intermittent island of about 100 by 50 meters. Egg Rock is usually accessible using foot trails over land, but during high river levels the island is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. The highest point of Egg Rock is about 39 meters above mean sea level and about 6 meters above normal river level.
The United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
(USGS) Geographic Names Information System
Geographic Names Information System
The Geographic Names Information System is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer...
(GNIS) includes Egg Rock as GNIS feature 617309, classified as an island. In the GNIS database as of February, 2010, the listed position (latitude 42.4645383, longitude -71.3592266) is misplaced by about 125 meters to the southwest, and is not actually located on the intermittent island. A more correct position is latitude 42.4651, longitude -71.3585.
The Inscription on Egg Rock
Egg Rock is perhaps most notable for the inscription carved into the rock in 1885 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the 1635 founding of Concord:On the hill Nashawtuck
at the meeting of the rivers
and along the banks
lived the Indian owners of
Musketaquid
before the white men came
The significance of the inscription would have been clear to most people familiar with local lore at the time it was carved, although it may seem cryptic now to many people who are unfamiliar with Concord's history and geography.
The native Massachusett
Massachusett
The Massachusett are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in areas surrounding Massachusetts Bay in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in particular present-day Greater Boston; they spoke the Massachusett language...
tribe used the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
name Musketaquid for the surrounding area and its riverside meadows; the Algonquian word for grass is muskeht. The Concord River and even the town of Concord were often called Musketaquid by writers in the nineteenth century, as may be noted in Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
's comment quoted below.
The principal local settlement of the Massachusett tribe which remained in 1635 (after plague decimated the original population in the preceding two decades) was nearby on the gentle slopes of Nashawtuc Hill, whose crest is about 500 meters southwest of Egg Rock. Negotiations initiated by Simon Willard
Simon Willard (First generation)
Simon Willard was born at Horsmonden, County Kent, England, in 1605; he was baptized in this same town on April 7, 1605. He died at an age of 71 years on April 24, 1676, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He moved from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1634. At the time he was a Major in...
with leaders of the tribe gave English settlers the right to live in the area, which came to be called Concord.
The importance of Egg Rock to Concord's historical self-image may be seen in the fact that at the time of its execution in 1885, the Egg Rock inscription was one of just seven town-wide "lasting memorials of stone and bronze" which were designed and commissioned by the "Tablet sub-committee" of the Concord Celebration Committee. As Charles Hosmer Walcott, chairman of the Tablet sub-committee, declaimed in a speech he delivered during the Sept. 12, 1885 celebration, the seven memorials "form an epitome of the town's history for a century and a half -- from the beginning of the plantation to the war of the revolution
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
." Concerning the inscription on Egg Rock itself, he continued:
"The simple words inscribed on the rugged face of the rock, where the rivers meet, will serve to remind us and succeeding generations of a people who have vanished from the face of the earth, leaving scarcely a trace of themselves, except a few arrow-heads and stone pestles, and, here and there, a mound or a heap of clam shells."
The inscription is carved into the eastern face of Egg Rock, where it is most easily seen from a boat in the Sudbury River.
Egg Rock and the three rivers in Concord's history and culture
Egg Rock's location has attracted people since before historic times. Stone relics of Native Americans have been found around Egg Rock.Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
beautifully described the gentle character of the three rivers (the Sudbury
Sudbury River
The Sudbury River is a tributary of the Concord River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.Originating in the Cedar Swamp in Westborough, Massachusetts, near the boundary with Hopkinton, it meanders generally northeast to its confluence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock in...
, Assabet
Assabet River
The Assabet River is a small river about west of Boston, Massachusetts. The river is long. The , headquartered in West Concord, Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the natural and recreational features of the Assabet River and...
, and Concord
Concord River
The Concord River is a tributary of the Merrimack River in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. The river drains a small rural and suburban region northwest of Boston. One of the most famous small rivers in U.S...
rivers) near Concord, Massachusetts
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
in his 1849 book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers is a book by Henry David Thoreau, first published in 1849. The book is ostensibly the narrative of a boat trip from Concord, Massachusetts to Concord, New Hampshire and back Thoreau had taken with his brother John in 1839...
:
The Musketaquid, or Grass-ground River, though probably as old as the Nile or Euphrates, did not begin to have a place in civilized history, until the fame of its grassy meadows and its fish attracted settlers out of England in 1635, when it received the other but kindred name of CONCORD from the first plantation on its banks, which appears to have been commenced in a spirit of peace and harmony. It will be Grass-ground River as long as grass grows and water runs here; it will be Concord River only while men lead peaceable lives on its banks. [...] One branch of it [...] called Sudbury River, enters Concord at the south part of the town, and after receiving [at Egg Rock] the North or Assabeth River, which has its source a little farther to the north and west, goes out at the northeast angle [....] Concord River is remarkable for the gentleness of its current, which is scarcely perceptible, and some have referred to its influence the proverbial moderation of the inhabitants of Concord, [...] it appears to have been properly named Musketaquid, or Meadow River, by the Indians. For the most part, it creeps through broad meadows [....]
The typically tranquil quality of the rivers has helped make boating on the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet rivers a favorite pastime and social activity for many Concord area residents since well before Thoreau's time. Egg Rock's location at the confluence of these rivers, and nearly in the center of Concord
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
's land area, has resulted in its status as a notable landmark for many years.
Thoreau surveyed Nashawtuc Hill in December 1856 and January 1857, producing a map which included Egg Rock. During this time, in a January 16, 1857 entry in his journal, he wrote:
Jan 16
PM up Assabet
This morning was one of the coldest. It improves the walking on the river--freezing the overflow beneath the snow. As I pass the Island (Egg Rock) I notice the ice foot adhering to the rock about 2 feet above the surface of the ice generally-- the ice there for a few feet in width slants up to it & owing to this the snow is blown off it. This edging of ice revealed is peculiarly green by contrast with the snow methinks. So, too, where the ice settling has rested on a rock which has burst it & now hold it high above the surrounding level--
Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
are reported to have sometimes enjoyed sitting on Egg Rock, watching the water flow by, and Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
, who sculpted the sitting figure of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
as well as the Minute Man statue just downstream from Egg Rock at the Old North Bridge, breakfasted there occasionally.
In recognition of its significance in Thoreau's life around Concord, the Thoreau Society
Thoreau Society
Established in 1941, the Thoreau Society has long contributed to the dissemination of knowledge about Henry David Thoreau by collecting books, manuscripts, and artifacts relating to Thoreau and his contemporaries, by encouraging the use of its collections, and by publishing articles in two Society...
, in its annual gatherings, has included a trip to Egg Rock among its several days of annual activities.
In the first stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
of his romantic 1875 poem “Floating Hearts,” George Bradford Bartlett considered Egg Rock among the major riverside vistas of Concord, alongside the Minute Man statue at the Old North Bridge and The Old Manse
The Old Manse
The Old Manse is an historic manse famous for its American literary associations. It is now owned and operated as a nonprofit museum by the Trustees of Reservations...
:
One of Indian summer's most perfect days
Is dreamily dying in golden haze,
Fair Assabet blushes in rosy bliss,
Reflecting the sun's warm good night kiss.
Through a fleet of leaf barques gold and brown,
From the radiant maples shaken down,
By the ancient hemlocks grim and gray
Our boat drifts slowly on its way;
Down past Egg Rock and the meadows wide,
Neath the old red bridge we slowly glide,
Till we see the Minute man strong and grand,
And the moss grown Manse in the orchard land.
[...]
The natural beauty of the rivers around Egg Rock has been extolled by several of America's most well-known authors. Of the stretch of the Assabet River
Assabet River
The Assabet River is a small river about west of Boston, Massachusetts. The river is long. The , headquartered in West Concord, Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the natural and recreational features of the Assabet River and...
immediately upstream of Egg Rock, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
wrote:
A more lovely stream than the Assabet for a mile above its junction with the Concord has never flowed on earth – nowhere, indeed, except to lave the interior regions of a poet's imagination.... It comes flowing softly through the midmost privacy and deepest heart of a wood which whispers it to be quiet; while the stream whispers back again from its sedgy borders, as if river and wood were hushing one another to sleep. Yes, the river sleeps along its course and dreams of the sky and the clustering foliage.
Beginning in the 1870s, many Concord area residents participated in social events on the rivers around Egg Rock.
Egg Rock itself was a much-enjoyed location for holiday picnics and breakfasts in the summer. During that period, a “Carnival of Boats” was organized, with as many as 8000 participants and spectators, by one account. The boats gathered around Egg Rock and floated down the Concord River, many bearing Chinese-style lanterns and elaborate decorations similar to parade floats.
Although the clearing of surrounding woodlands and the building of the Reformatory Branch
Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad
The Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad was a railroad company chartered in 1845 and opened in 1846, that operated in eastern Massachusetts. It and its successors provided passenger service until 1977 and freight service until 1980 or early 1981....
railroad disrupted the pristine atmosphere of Egg Rock's surroundings in the later 1800s, by the beginning of the 21st Century, the area had largely returned to a more natural state. The designation of the Sudbury
Sudbury River
The Sudbury River is a tributary of the Concord River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.Originating in the Cedar Swamp in Westborough, Massachusetts, near the boundary with Hopkinton, it meanders generally northeast to its confluence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock in...
, Assabet
Assabet River
The Assabet River is a small river about west of Boston, Massachusetts. The river is long. The , headquartered in West Concord, Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the natural and recreational features of the Assabet River and...
, and Concord
Concord River
The Concord River is a tributary of the Merrimack River in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. The river drains a small rural and suburban region northwest of Boston. One of the most famous small rivers in U.S...
rivers as a part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1999, and the permanent protection of many tracts of land bordering the rivers, appear to ensure long-term preservation of many of the natural values of this beautiful area.
Egg Rock continues to play a significant part in more modern celebrations of the waters surrounding Concord. The annual River Fest celebrated along the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord rivers often includes an event at Egg Rock to perform “a blessing to honor the spirit of the river and the river of life." Egg Rock has been the site of a winter solstice
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
ceremony sponsored by the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, which included a bonfire. It has served as the starting point for an annual fund raising event produced by the local Milldam Nursery School, in which nearly 2000 yellow rubber duck
Rubber duck
A rubber duck is a toy shaped like a stylised Yellow-billed Duck , and is generally yellow with a flat base. It may be made of rubber or rubber-like material such as vinyl plastic...
s float down the Concord River from Egg Rock to the Lowell Road boat launch ramp, about 300 meters downstream.
Beyond events on the rivers themselves, Egg Rock appears regularly in a variety of forms in the local cultural scene. It has been the subject of several artistic works, including a painting by Lexington
Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
artist Michael Cunliffe Thompson entitled “Egg Rock,” which uses the Egg Rock inscription text to form its top and bottom borders, a large and striking painting by Concord
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
artist Ilana Manolson in 2009, also entitled “Egg Rock,” and a similarly titled en plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
oil painting by Gregory Dysart of Natick
Natick, Massachusetts
Natick is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 33,006 at the 2010 census. Only west from Boston, Natick is considered part of the Greater Boston area...
. Egg Rock is also the inspiration for the name of a Concord area classical music quartet, the Egg Rock Quartet, which in 2009 performed “a lively evening of chamber music“ for the Concord Art Association.
Access to Egg Rock
Many visitors pass by Egg Rock on boats as they travel between a popular boat rental establishment along the Sudbury River at Concord's South Bridge and the historic Old North Bridge. There is also a boat launch ramp at the Lowell Road bridge over the Concord River, about 300 meters downstream of Egg Rock. Depending on water levels, there are accessible landing spots nearby Egg Rock along the Sudbury RiverSudbury River
The Sudbury River is a tributary of the Concord River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.Originating in the Cedar Swamp in Westborough, Massachusetts, near the boundary with Hopkinton, it meanders generally northeast to its confluence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock in...
. Egg Rock is a popular picnic spot, with a few benches located on the higher ground.
Except during times of high river levels, Egg Rock is easily accessible by foot or off-road bicycle as well as from the water. Egg Rock itself is located within Concord's Egg Rock conservation land, an eight-acre (three-hectare) parcel donated to the town in 1942 through a bequest from Fannie Eleanor Wheeler. It is an easy (1 km) walk from Concord center or the Concord railway station
Concord (MBTA station)
Concord Depot is a rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail system in Concord, Massachusetts. The station is located at 90 Thoreau Street in Concord Center. Service to the station is provided by the Fitchburg Line from Boston to Fitchburg, Massachusetts both inbound and outbound. The depot building...
on the Fitchburg Line
Fitchburg Line
The Fitchburg Line is an MBTA line that runs from Boston's North Station to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. It is one of the...
from Boston. The Town of Concord suggests that visitors who travel by automobile to visit Egg Rock should park on Nashawtuc Road after crossing the Sudbury River, then walk about 200 meters along the driveway marked "Squaw Sachem Trail" to a path on the right alongside a split-rail fence, which leads to Egg Rock. The round trip walk averages about 30 minutes.
The trail to Egg Rock crosses a short segment of the Reformatory Branch Rail Trail. This segment runs through woodland about 1.5 kilometers to the northwest and about 200 meters to the east from the intersection; in both directions that trail ends at riverbanks where railroad bridges formerly stood. The rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
to the northwest connects to other trails in the Simon Willard
Simon Willard (First generation)
Simon Willard was born at Horsmonden, County Kent, England, in 1605; he was baptized in this same town on April 7, 1605. He died at an age of 71 years on April 24, 1676, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He moved from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1634. At the time he was a Major in...
Woods and Korbet conservation lands, and provides good access to the scenic Assabet River
Assabet River
The Assabet River is a small river about west of Boston, Massachusetts. The river is long. The , headquartered in West Concord, Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the natural and recreational features of the Assabet River and...
bank. Beyond the former railroad bridge over the Sudbury River to the east, the Reformatory Branch Rail Trail continues for 7 kilometers as a dirt track to connect to the Minuteman Bikeway, a paved bikeway providing access from the Boston area.
The map for this location which is available from OpenStreetMap (via the "Coordinates" link in the sidebar) provides detailed GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
-based tracks for the footpaths.