The North River

Public access: Bridge Street / Union Street, Chittenden Lane (off River) from the shore. Or any boat, get in from these landings, or come up stream from Mary's on Rt 3A in Marshfield or King's Landing (off Main Street, 1/4 mile East of Harbor Lane)

Other Resources:

North & South Rivers Watershed Association: NSRWA
Tide Charts (great off-site link

The North River is a great resource for Norwell and surrounding towns, including Scituate, Marshfield, Pembroke, and Hanover,...and always has been. It played an especially important part of Norwell's economic history, and now contributes as a recreational asset for great four-season recreation.

For scenic river foliage tours, click to North and South River Rides

The picture to the right, showing a great blue heron was taken just east of Kings Landing in early November.

Heron, geese, mergansers, ducks, and myriad other waterfowl make their homes on the North River.

There's nothing like sunrise on the marsh after a snowstorm... You gotta get up early and see it, whether your monitor catches the early morning red (below) or not

In January, the river gets pretty cold. That's ice in salt water. January, brrrrr.

Canoeing the river: at the Norwell / Hanover/ Pembroke confluence

Best time to catch stripers is on the slack tide (top, when changing). This is when the stripers feed the most feverishly, as well as when your bait or lure will stay where you put it.

Plus, it's when all the little critters that big fish feed on begin to come pouring our of the tributaries shown here.

Fall RIver.jpg (22008 bytes)

Rafting upriver, at the Old Washington Street stone bridge (above)

And picnicing at "The Spit", downriver, at the mouth (low tide best).

If you prefer human powered watercraft, sign up for the Great River Race, held annually in early August, usually beginning at 10:00 AM. Most classes of watercraft leave from the Union Street Bridge, and race to the Washington Street Bridge (Hanover - Pembroke line), 6.5 miles upstream. The picnic and awards celebration normally runs 12:30 to 1:30 at Luddam's Ford Park, off Elm Street, Hanover. Contact the North & South Rivers Watershed Association for more on this fun day out on the River.

Click http://www.maineharbors.com/ma/tidemass.htm for current Tide Charts

Fishing from the river doesn't require a boat... just patience, a little luck, and knowing that bass especially hit at the turn of the tide. The bass shown below was caught with a broken-back rapala, but you'll have even better luck with mackeral or sea worms, available at local fish and bait shops.

OK, so we're cheating a little bit here: These two Norwell anglers are actually fishing the Marshfield side (Norwell is in the background)

That's your webmaster on the right with the striped bass.

Note the high, early morning slack tide = success!

The river, early in the morning, is hard to beat

These two young canoeists explore the shore near the corner where Norwell, Pembroke, and Hanover meet, just above the mouth of the Third Herring Brook.

The slips at Kings Landing are empty in the summer only when everyone's out on the water! OR from November 1 to May 1 each year. Empty Slips.jpg (31000 bytes)

The boating season begins in earnest over Memorial Day weekend.

Kayaking is one way to get down close to the water. Canoes work, too. Portable boats can be launched from Brigantine Circle, Chittenden Lane, King's Landing, or from Bridge Street.

Bridge Street and King's Landing can also take a trailered boat. Across Route 3A is Mary's, in Marshfield, which is closer to the mouth, if you're headed out to the ocean, or up the South River.

Other Resources

By far the greatest resource for both the North and the South Rivers (which heads south just up from the shared mouth of both rivers) is the North and South Rivers Watershed Association. They make their headquarters right here in Norwell, at 214 South Street, (Norwell, MA 02061) and welcome your membership. (The cost of membership ranges, so you can sign up on the cheap for their newsletters and activities, or make a real donation if you like the work they do). Their phone number is (781) 659-8168. If you're unfamiliar with the rivers, but want to know more, join up. They host myriad activities, from their annual River Cleanup Day, to interactive educational presentations, to birdwatching and so on. The newsletters alone are worth the price, and you'll learn lots not just about the rivers, but about watersheds, wildlife, and wetlands in general.

Tip: If you're interested in great images and watershed maps, this page has a nice link

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