Ober Road to Cliff Pond Loop (Nickerson State Park)

Ober Road to Cliff Pond Loop (Nickerson State Park)

Distance: 2.68 miles
Elevation: 117 feet

Time: 1 hour, 9 mintues
Hike Type: Loop
Hiking Challenges: N/A

The Hike

Time for the second hike of the day! I was definitely fixated on exploring more of these woods, so this time I headed out with Louise and Linda the greyhound. We followed Ober Road south to the old gravesite, and then followed an unmapped, narrow trail to Ober Trail. Our plan was to follow this to Cliff Pond, which was easy going on a paved path. Cliff Pond looked beautiful from the beach we landed at!

The return trip started on an unmapped trail to the fire tower (which is not climbable - sad!), and then we rejoined the Deer Park Trail to Middle Trail, where we continued to admire the lichen. The greens were likely standing out since the trees were wet. Soon enough we were back on Ober Road, and back to the house. Short and sweet!

Step-By-Step

- Start hike in back yard of Airbnb toward Ober Road.

- Turn right onto Ober Road.

- Veer left onto narrow footpath toward Ober Trail. 

- Cross Deer Park Road, continue on paved path.

- Turn left onto footpath toward parking area for Cliff Pond, enjoy!

- Join Cliff Pond Trail, moving clockwise.

- At junction, turn left onto unmapped trail toward Fire Tower.

- Trail terminates at tower on Deer Park Road, walk toward Dump Station, then onto Deer Park Trail traveling northward.

- At second jucntion, turn left onto Middle Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Ober Trail.

- At unmapped trail, turn right onto Ober Road.

- Follow Ober Road back to Airbnb backyard. 

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Cliff Pond (Nickerson State Park)

Cliff Pond Loop

(Nickerson State Park)

 

Hike Type: Loop

Distance: 3.12 miles

Elevation: 174 feet

Time: 1 hour, 13 minutes minutes

Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge

 

The Hike
And just like that, less than 24 hours, I was back at Nickerson State Park! I brought some friends this time, too. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze, it was in the mid 40s, and off we went! We followed the same path that I did the previous day, across the sandy trail to the split. At the trail split, we turned right to follow the trail around Cliff Pond. The trail was consistently beautiful, alternating between woods, shoreline, and beach hiking. There were occasionally side trails to different camping areas, but it was always clear where to go.

 

The trail climbed a little bit on the western side of the pond, which had lovely seasonal views through the trees. We eventually made it to a parking lot/boat launch site, almost directly across the pond from the parking lot. From here we made the mistake of hiking toward camping Area 4 instead of staying on the shoreline. We didn’t realize we made this mistake until we were all out of breath gaining more elevation than anticipated… whoops! At Area 4 we got to see some lovely campsites, a kiosk describing the CCC work in the park decades ago, and a small history lesson of a date two of our friends went on in a Yurt here that went poorly (mostly due to bugs).

 

Eventually, we found the trail back to the Cliff Pond trail, and continued our adventure! The last section of our hike was beautiful and close to the shoreline, and at one point crossing a swimming beach. There was one section of trail that was eroded away, so we made the decision to stay on the shoreline for the remainder of the hike. Even though it was chilly outside, we were all warm at this point (temperatures were in the 50s), and the beautiful clear water was incredibly inviting. Thankfully, no one caved and we all stayed dry. We were soon back at the car and heading back to the AirBnb for lunch!

 

“Cliff Pond” from Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife

“Cliff Pond is a 206-acre natural kettlehole pond with a maximum depth of 96 feet and an average depth of 33 feet. The pond gets its name from the cliffs surrounding the pond. Transparency is exceptional, extending to 23 feet, and aquatic vegetation is scant. The 2.6 miles of shoreline are undeveloped and and protected within Nickerson State Park. The pond is heavily used by boaters during the summer months. The bottom is primarily sand with mud in the deeper areas.”

 

Nickerson State Park Map

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