If you live in the Boston Area and don't want to drive over an hour to Cape Cod for crowded…read morebeaches, Plum Island is the spot for you. The beach is very clean and the sand is nice. It is never crowded and you can almost guarantee yourself a nice beach spot to set up camp and have a great day. The water is never too cold and you can always count on a fun time in the water if you find yourself hot and ready for a cool down. If you plan to visit this beautiful beach, be prepared to drop some $$ on parking as it is scarce throughout the island. Also, If you are into wildlife, the $5 entry to the Plum Island Refuge can provide a fun time with many different boardwalks and beaches.

Plum Island Beach, in Newburyport, is a great & lowkey beach on the North Shore to go to!…read moreThe beach is clean & pretty quiet, mostly locals. Much less congested compared to the popular beaches in MA & no traffic jams. I usually only come here if I'm planning a trip to see my friends in Newburyport ;) Not sure how much the parking is; I park at a friend's house. Very calm beach ONLY THING IS, avoid going in the month of July, OR be very careful of the greenhead flies! They are everywhere here during that month & their bites hurt lol. Not sure if greenheads are only specific to this beach in particular, however, I've only really ever experienced this here.

Recently I had to cancel a beach house rental due to overpricing, lack of basic items needed that…read moreshould be included, and the unprofessional and rude owner Allison. If you want to rent this, be aware that you will have to pack up your whole apartment and bring it to this beach house. You MUST bring your own bed sheets. If you can't provide your own bed sheets, there's a charge of $50 per bed ( you don't get to keep the sheets after extra $50 charge) I have included the text messages with the owner of this rental (Allison) $75 per person per night, no sheets on beds, and an owner that will speak to you in a VERY unprofessional manner. If you are looking for a rental for a nice vacation spot, I highly recommend avoiding 70 Railroad Ave. In Salisbury, Ma. (texts in blue are from me & texts in black are Allison the owner)

Getting over crowded,too much smoking, everything!! Loud…read moremusic,we used to able to relax. Not so much anymore! Kids couldn't use their kids toy gargles! Cause life guards couldn't tell if they had died.thats the excuse they gave me! .who dies on the shore using gargles? Parking is $15 all day!

We have been camping here for 30 years. No frills. Water and electric are on most sites. Sewer,…read moreyou are on own to drive to the dump station or take your blue rolling container for a walk. The sites are large. The beach is nice. Vampires and sunsets top it off.

Got to relax on the beach mid-September and it was perfect. The part we were at is nice and rock…read morefree, plus they had a sand rug as you enter that beach that made it easy to get to. The water was cold but was nice to dip my feet in. They do charge for parking until October I believe but it was Girl Scouts love State park weekend so it was free for us. There are both parking meters or you can use Yodel.com for convenience. They have a bathhouse at the parking lot that is clean and has an outdoor shower too. Plus I saw a children's park and a cookout area. Overall lovely park and I'd love to come swimming here in the new england summer months!

On Monday nights, Heritage Ice Cream (across the street) sponsors free music concerts. There are…read moreother events on the other days of the week, too. There's a paved foot path along the river. There are lots of benches and there's a small yet decently maintained beach with public restrooms. There are a couple of small parking lots that fill up quickly, but it's okay to park along the street. The paved foot path along the river is over one mile long. Great for urban hiking, walking, strollers, exercise.

There's always something going on here, especially in the summer - concerts on Mondays, Motorcycle…read morenight on Tuesdays, Monsters and Mini (jacked up trucks and Mini Coopers!) night, free movie nights on Wednesdays, kids night on Thursdays... Not to mention all the summer events like the African festival and Southeast Asian Water fest, among so many others. This is a nice, paved, well-maintained multipurpose path with lots of benches to sit on while you enjoy the beautiful Merrimack river. Well-lit at night with street lamps, it's the perfect place to watch a sunset while you enjoy an icecream cone from Heritage ice cream across the street. It's wonderful to see all the regulars while you walk and all the families enjoying the city. Arguably the best free thing you can do in Lowell on an evening.

Great little beach in Beverly. Gorgeous view, not too crowded on a weekday, free parking on the…read morestreet and in a small lot, and even a bathroom! I was here for a few hours on a June Wednesday and really enjoyed it here. There aren't many waves, making Dane Street Brach a great spot for families with young children. Please note, however, that there isn't a lifeguard at this beach. It is pretty rocky here, so definitely recommend water shoes.

For being a small beach, it is quite lovely. There is a beautiful little park where one can enjoy…read morethe shade of the trees and the gentle sea breeze, and plenty of space to settle in. There are some draw backs. The water is only 2-3 feet deep for a good quarter of a mile from the shore, especially at low tide it is a challenge just getting into the water because of all the damn rocks! Otherwise, it's nice being able to go for a swim and yet be a 5 minute walk from downtown Beverly. It seems to be a challenge to find a good place to swim, in Lynn the red algea ruins the beach (but I have heard it is well under control this year) and for something close and quick Dane Street will do.

QUICK SUMMARY: Excellent State Park with partially-paved bike trails, beautiful sights especially…read morein the Fall, and a great place to take portraits! The park is open from sun up to sun down. Parking is by a self-pay meter and is $5, entry to park itself is free. My boyfriend and I came here on a whim one crisp Saturday morning in September. We brought our mountain bikes and spent about two hours leisurely exploring the trails, which are paved only half of the time, but still well-maintained. There are many lush sights to see, both with colored/green trees and the Ipswich river (along the path) was a pretty sight as well, with turtles/ducks swimming nearby. We saw only a few people while on the trails, mainly people on bikes, but we did see some walkers as well. If you decide to walk, I would definitely suggest grabbing a trail map at the beginning of the trail, as there are many different routes along the way and it can get confusing without one. There is a giant treeless field at the center of the park which made for a great landscape for my boyfriend and me to take pictures using our tripod/camera. Overall, I would highly recommend this park for all ages/types of people!

Nice splash park for younger children, in a pretty setting. Nice changing rooms…read more We only stopped at the splash park, but as we drove through it looked like there were nice trails for walking. Google maps directed us the wrong way, to the southern entrance, which is now an exit only! We had to drive 10 minutes round to get to Northern entrance.

super cool place to go for a walk very close to umass lowell! there's a fun bridge to walk across…read moreand a cool set of stairs that leads right to the water. i recommend this for pics and a walk, less so for a picnic.

Saw an injured hawk here today. Hope it's okay. Great looking park. Tried to find a geocache here…read moreonce but couldn't find it. Looked for a long time then decided geocaching is not for me.

This is a very nice park along the Merrimack River in Lowell…read more It's across the street from Gary's Ice Cream and U Mass Lowell South. There is a long walk way and a couple of wide open, green spaces with a few trees. There's a long, paved pathway. I guess it gets only three stars because its parking lot is terrible. It's big enough, but it's unpaved and there are huge depressions in it, making it hard to drive through. The paved path is a mile long, which makes is good for an urban hike.

There is off-street parking available and if you walk a way's away, you'll see public lots. This is…read moreone of the nicer areas along the boulevard where one can relax (with loud cars and music from the passerby in their cars) with her dog... I've heard from locals that the area isn't great, but I've yet to encounter a problem. It's small compared to the bandstand area. Plus, in the spring and summer, the ample trees offer refuge from the sun.