Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Harvard

Swimming Hole Rating: Ages 16+

Went swimming here a couple days ago, it was a fun little spot with a rope swing and a bridge to jump from. The water isnt the deepest in the world though, maybe about 8-9ft deep. Your best bet is to jump from the middle of the bridge and to not dive EVER. I also reccommend not doing what I was doing and that was running and diving over the railing before doing a flip and landing in the water. I ended up messing up on a jump and caught the railing which caused me to hit my face on the bridge and cut my chin open. I had to get 6 stitches because of it, so while it's a fun spot, I wouldn't necessarily say its a safe spot. Just be smart about jumping and you should be fine, but remember to...

The put in is the worst on the Nashua river. Concrete is good until you get in the water, then it's mud covered, slippery and only out another three feet. After that it's a large dropoff. When water is shallow it's going to be very bad due to the muddy bottom. That all said from here up river to 117 is impossible. Half mile up is a major blow down. Portaging is a poor to impossible option due to... Mud! Bugs! Plants! Going down stream is really your only option. It's a beautiful paddle. You can go about 5 or 6 miles to Ice house Dam. Very few people and lots of bird life. Watch for otters. I...

Check out this amazing rock formation on Route 2 near the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge! This is a road cut that slices right through the ancient roots of a long-vanished mountain range. Hundreds of millions of years ago, continental collisions deep underground squeezed and cooked sedimentary rock, transforming it into the metamorphic schist and gneiss we see today. The incredible pressure bent and folded the rock, creating these beautiful, wavy patterns. It's like looking at a snapshot of geological time, right from the side of the road! Warning, extremely dangerous area for walking...