How many Quincy beaches can you name? Here's a brief guide to them all
QUINCY − A recent report by the website Stacker.com ranked Quincy second among Massachusetts beach towns, high above some of the South Shore's more obvious candidates, including Hull, Duxbury, Scituate and Marshfield. One of the reasons Quincy was ranked so high is its extensive shoreline and plentitude of beaches.
Even Quincy natives may be hard-pressed to name all 16. Some are small patches of sand and rock, while others are larger but less accessible, located in quiet neighborhoods far from Quincy's major thoroughfares.
Here is the complete list with brief descriptions to help beachgoers explore the city's 27 miles of shoreline, including details about location, parking and amenities. They are sorted by neighborhood, moving from north to south.
Squantum
1. Nickerson Beach
This small, rocky beach gives an expansive view of Marina Bay, the "Rainbow Swash" natural gas tank, UMass-Boston and the Boston skyline. There’s parking opposite the sea wall on Dorchester Street and at Nickerson Post on Moon Island Road.
A short but rugged hike, including a scramble down craggy ledges and across a carpet of seaweed, leads to a separate section of Nickerson Beach on the Quincy Bay side of the peninsula. This beach, which extends some 100 yards along the Moon Island causeway, looks toward Thompson, Spectacle and Long islands.
2. Orchard Beach
This small, remote public beach off Bayside Road is sandier than Nickerson Beach, and at low tide hikers can walk along the water to the Moon Island causeway.
Small boats moored offshore make a charming scene, and the sound of gulls competes with the distant ring of gunshots from the Boston police firing range on Moon Island. There is very limited street parking on Bayside Road and the end of Huckins Avenue.
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Merrymount and Adams Shore
3. Merrymount Beach
This private beach sits where Black’s Creek and Quincy Bay meet. It’s maintained by the Merrymount Neighborhood Association with many plantings and landscaping. There’s also a basketball court that is flooded in the winter and converted into a small hockey rink.
Large trees provide shade for picnic tables and benches facing the bay. There’s also a small concession stand and a playground with a swing set and a sandbox for the kids. The beach itself is a little rocky, but the surrounding lawn and park area make for a relaxing and scenic location.
4. Chickatabot Beach
Climb down a stairway from the sea wall to reach this first of three beaches along Adams Shore. It’s very small and rocky, but gives views across Quincy Bay of harbor islands and the Boston skyline. There’s no on-site parking, so either find street parking or walk from a bus stop on Sea Street.
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5. Norton Beach
Just a little farther up Adams Shore from Chickatabot, this beach is also quite rocky along the water, but there’s a large sandy area toward the sea wall where people store canoes and kayaks. It’s a great place to watch the sunset over Quincy Bay and provides nice views along the peninsula out to Houghs Neck and Nut Island.
6. Heron (Front) Beach
A stairway leads down from the sea wall to this fourth rocky beach along Adams Shore. You can park at the adjacent Arthur Boyson Park, which features a playground, a covered picnic table and a basketball court. The beach extends some 100 yards east to where the Houghs Neck portion of the peninsula bends northward.
Houghs Neck
7. Perry Beach
This rocky beach sits along Bayswater Road near a small playground and boatyard. A boathouse next to the ramp is managed by the parks department and sometimes hosts movie nights. This is another good place to see the sunset, and it provides views of Nut Island at the tip of Houghs Neck.
8. Manet Beach
On the Fore River side of Houghs Neck, Manet Beach extends along the sea wall and breakwater. It faces the Quincy Yacht Club to the north and Rock Island Head to the south. Between Edgewater Drive and the sea wall, there’s a green area and a sidewalk where people stroll and walk their dogs.
9. Edgewater Beach
Farther south on Edgewater Drive, this beach has a sandy area near the street, but it turns rocky closer to the water. Not far offshore sits Raccoon Island, once a summer campsite for Native Americans. It’s now part of the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park.
10. Rhoda Beach
At the end of Rhoda Street, this tiny strip of sand between private homes looks out onto Rock Island Cove. The gate is festooned with old buoys, paddles and other simple ornaments. A sign alerts swimmers that the city monitors water conditions from the third week of June to Labor Day, as it does for all public beaches. There’s no on-site parking, but the beach doesn’t draw crowds and street parking is not hard to find.
Germantown
11. Fire Station Beach
At the end of Doane Street, this secluded little beach sits next to the Quincy Fire Department’s Engine 8. A big “E 8” is painted on the station’s roof. A charming wooden boardwalk traverses a stretch of marshland to a sandy beach fronting the Fore River. There are views across the river, which is alive with boat traffic toward North Weymouth to the east and the Fore River Bridge to the south. There’s ample on-site parking.
12. Baker Beach
This small neighborhood beach is on Palmer Street at Broady Avenue. A lawn slopes down to the sand and a small, unshaded playground sits to the left. It looks across the Town River at Mound Street Beach and Avalon Beach in Quincy Point. With no on-site parking, look for a spot on Broady Avenue or other side streets off Palmer.
13. Delano Beach
Hard to notice, this tiny, private beach sits at the end of an unpaved private way. A sign at the entrance warns swimmers that the city does not monitor the beach for bacteria in the water. Directly to the east is the Clipper Marina, and across the river sits the Town River Yacht Club.
Quincy Point
14. Avalon Beach
One of the few sandy beaches in Quincy, Avalon extends about 100 yards in a small neighborhood north of Washington Street near the rotary. Attached to the beach is a quiet, shaded park with plenty of benches and green space. The Twin Rivers Technologies plant sits nearby to the east. Also within walking distance are the Bay Pointe Waterfront restaurant and the Dairy Queen on Washington Street. Street parking is usually available along Avalon Avenue.
15. Mound Beach
Not far from Avalon, Mound Beach sits in a quiet neighborhood off Southern Artery. There’s a large green field directly behind it where people sometimes play cricket. That field slopes up a hill, at the top of which sits a baseball diamond. The beach itself is sandy and about 50 yards long. The Town River Yacht Club is next to it, and Captain’s Cove Marina sits a little farther off. There is plenty of on-site parking.
Wollaston
16. Wollaston Beach
This is the big one. Maintained by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, Wollaston Beach stretches 2.3 miles along Quincy Shore Drive from Caddy Park to Moswetuset Hummock. Great for jogging, biking, dog walking and people watching, the area provides walking trails through marsh and woodlands, picnic areas, playgrounds and more.
Wollaston Beach's formal name is the Quincy Shore Reservation. It is heavily frequented throughout the year, and in the summer, beachgoers support two clam shacks, a taco shack and a vegetarian restaurant. There are also two yacht clubs (Wollaston and Squantum). A shaded playground across Quincy Shore Drive at East Elm Avenue and Sachem Street provides a break from the sun and a change of pace for the kids.
At this time of year, you might see piping plovers at the beach. Watch out for their nests (they're roped off).
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Reach Peter Blandino at pblandino@patriotledger.com.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy Beach Guide: Parking, views, playgrounds, locations
