Steps to the Beach, Ellisville Harbor State Park, Ellisville, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Ellisville Harbor State Park offers a pleasant walk at any time of the year.......



.......and I wish I had brought a lunch to enjoy at this unoccupied table.



There were even wild roses growing nearby along the trail........



.....that leads to the beach on Cape Cod Bay.



Add in an informal rock garden......



.....and a well-defined trail.....



..... and they all add up to a nice way to spend an hour on a pleasant summer day. Plenty of parking and no access fee - two features that are always music to the ears of a retiree!

Ellisville Harbor State Park, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Ellisville Harbor State Park is located a few miles north of the Cape Cod Canal on one of the few unspoiled sections of undeveloped coastline between Boston and Cape Cod. It is 100 acres of forest, meadow, marsh, bog, and beach.  Ellisville is one of the ten villages of Plymouth.

The upper marsh hosts many species of birds and other critters in its rich ecosystem, shown here at high tide.

In 1857, Henry David Thoreau stayed at a tavern near here in Ellisville on his foot journey between Plymouth and Cape Cod.

At the end of a very pleasant walking trail from the main parking lot, one arrives at the beach, shown here on a rising tide.

Ellisville Harbor State Park - Late Autumn, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Ellisville Harbor is a beautiful coastal property which includes beachfront, salt marsh, rolling meadows, red pine forest, barrier beach, sphagnum bog, forested upland and open meadows. It breathes the steady beat of time as the tide fills and then empties the marshland.

Looking out over the salt marsh toward a steel gray Cape Cod Bay.

Low tide in the marsh.

This sign seems to state the obvious in a most intrusive and unattractive way.  Why must a sign look so tacky? Why must we spoil a natural view with such ugliness? Is it the response to a sad and tragic accident that occurred here or, some bureaucrat or attorney fearing liability or, simple lack of mindfulness?

This looks to me like a domesticated dog behaving wildly and happily off his leash......

......and a harbor seal relaxing ......

....and a starkness that hints of a cold winter, soon to arrive.