Tompson Street Reservation — Attraction in Gloucester

My hike didn’t start well, got really good, and ended poorly. Drainage is very poor along the “Street Car Path” by the meetinghouse. But it’s better elsewhere. The real gem here is the pond and walkway. Beautiful views and environment. The Eagle Rock summit is great too with a view to Wingaersheek Beach. The trails are packed dirt but multiple times I was climbing or sliding down the granite. What really let me down on this hike was the trail marking. The map shows a yellow “swamp” trail and a red Eagle Rock trail. I never saw the yellow markers. The red markers have faded to orange. And the official Greenbelt markers are orange. The Street Car Path is NOT a straight line as shown on Google Maps. And it’s not a continuous line from end to end. I had many false summits to Eagle Rock. The poor trail markers just made it frustrating and a longer hike than necessary. There are a lot of features for biking and I wish I was a biker. There are lots of thorns but maybe don’t eat the “blueberries”! I don’t give five stars but if the markers were improved this would be a 4.25-4.5. It might be one of my favorite, and...

Listed as the largest Greenbelt property I have only hiked the "Sunset Mountain Gateway" corner. If you're brave you can park on 133 near the interchange but I recommend the Mnt. Jacob Cemetery lot. The short but steep climb to Sunset Mountain offers immediate reward with tremendous panoramic vista....

We did the Red Maple Swamp Trail, 2.1 miles. Nice wooded walk, but expect roots and rocks along the way. A wooden walkway over the swamp was a great spot to hear many different bird and frog sounds. Not crowded at all, a nice...