Discover Dogtown - Gloucester

Bull calf fighting, abandoned cellars from the once-thriving community, witches and Babson boulders are a few sites & stories in Dogtown. If you’re heading to Gloucester , why not take a romp in the woods at Dogtown? It’s a neat area to see, with loads of history and a place the archeologist and adventurer in you would appreciate. After all, where can you stand in the middle of a 10,000 year old terminal moraine? It’s for adults and kids. You’ll meet folks and their dogs (how appropriate, right?), bicyclists (even though it’s a bit bumpy in places) and others out hiking and walking.

You can take about an hour and ½ on the main trails on a leisurely walk, still seeing a few cellars and Babson Boulders. Longer routes goes through more of the trails. Yes, this is the same guy associated with Babson College . There’s 24 inspirational messages on the boulders that out-of-work, Babson-employeed stone masions carved. You’ll see such messages as “Keep Out of Debt”, “Help Mother” and “Be Clean” – always a good-smellin’ bit of advice! Compare notes from other boulder-hunters and get tips on where the heck that “Never Try/Never Win” one is! It’s always a good conversation starter: “Hey have you found “Get a Job” yet?

You’ll see more boulders, without having to bush-wack you’re way to them from late Fall to early Spring. In Winter of course – be prepared for a snow trek. But the summer is a great time too if you like looking at all the greenery – just bring bug spray. It’s tempting to take your dog off his/her lease too. But I’d think twice about as they may like it so much up there, that they run off into the woods! There’s other dogs around that you don’t know too. I’d leave your cat at home. It’s not an appropriate trail for horses either.

Get a copy of the Babson Boulder Trail map. It has GPS Coordinates and the boulder where Merry died fighting his bull calf.

The Dogtown Common Trail Guide is a great trail map in general. But you rarely find them stocked at the trail head on

Dogtown Road You can get a copy by sending a SASE to: Environmental Planner, Planning Dept., Forbes Bldg., 41 Washington St., Gloucester MA 01930 Word of advice if going in the Dogtown Road way, park down by the entrance to Dogtown Road off of Cherry street and walk up. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the Common from there. You’ll pass cellars along the way.

Some books for you to check out: AMC Massachusetts and Rhode Island Trail Guide, 7th edition; In the Heart of Cape Ann or The Story of Dogtown by Charles E. Mann.

A great little guide specifically for Dogtown: “Dogtown: A village Lost in Time”, by Thomas Dresser. I’ve found that some of the more specific books are easy to find on the North Shore , but you’ve got to dig for them other places. It’s worth stopping by one of the book stores in Gloucester to get Dresser’s book if you’re looking for something small to take on the walk with you. It also has a “cellar map”, stories of the people so you can see where they went to school and how they lived. Maybe you’ll even find out how it got its name… No worries, it’s not a huge leap of thinking!

 

 

 

 

 

Taunya Wolfe Finn
Wolfe Adventures & Tours