Merrimack River Accessible Again at Southwell Park

 

Wicasee Island was easily reached yesterday thanks to the boat ramp at Southwell Park in North Chelmsford, MA being open to the public once again.  The ramp has been closed to the public for several months while being used as a staging area by contractors working on the replacement of the Rourke Bridge just over a mile downriver.  

In addition to the ramp being re-opened, it's also been rebuilt...

Meanwhile, construction of the new bridge continues on the river's east side...

Paddling by I witnessed this hopefully unoccupied Porta-Potty going for a ride...

Boaters are guided by channel markers to the river's west side in the area of the construction project.  Hugging the west side brought me close to the spot where the Middlesex Canal once connected to the river at Middlesex Village.  Not much there other than a small culvert and a good sized piece of timber...

Another half mile brought me to the mouth of Black Brook...

The view downriver from Black Brook toward Pawtucket Falls...

The morning stayed mostly cloudy which was fine with me considering how humid it was.

Green herons were out and about for the second paddle in a row...

Trash was encountered but overall this section of river looked relatively trash free...

Got to admire the new boat launch again upon my return...