Quinsigamond State Park

August 18, 2018 Sunny

This park mainly consists of a narrow lake that separates Worcester and Shrewsbury and in fact flows right under Route 9 and I-290. I had driven past and over it many times over the years but never thought of stopping, but am very glad I did.

We started by pulling into Regatta Point park just off of Route 9, which has a small beach and a good boat rental. The rental offers sailboats, kayaks, paddleboats, and paddle boards. We opted for 2 large kayaks with Diana and Liam together, while I took Ryan and Miles (our 2 younger boys).

This picture is looking south and you can see Route 9 traffic intersecting the lake. The water is actually quite clear and the bright sun shows this well.

We decided to head north on the lake toward the I-290 overpass, which was a little more than 1 mile away. All three of us were able to help paddle, which made it more fun.

The picture below shows Liam, our oldest son, approaching the I-290 overpass toward the north part of the lake, which was our goal.

Although it looked far, the trip north, circling the bridge posts, and returning to the boat rental only took a bit more than 1 hour. But it was a hot day and we were tired, so decided to hit the beach.

The beach, as you can see, is actually quite scenic for a lake and well kept, with plenty of clean sand and 2 lifeguards. The swimming area is quite small, but the water is clear and reasonably warm. It works well a safe area for younger children, but is not great for any kind of swimming, since the maximum depth is just a few feet near the buoys.

On the other hand, it’s surprisingly good for an inland beach, and works well for just lounging in the sun. The beach is backed by a shaded area with grills and picnic tables.

The downside as far as the boat rental and beach is the high volume of motor boat and jet ski traffic on the lake. There were several times our little kayak was rocked pretty hard by the wake. Just a note of caution if you visit.

Overall, it’s quite enjoyable for an urban setting and we definitely would like to come back to explore the southern end of the lake.

This was a great park to kayak on, but there was a lot of lake traffic.
The water was clear and cool. Kayaking was fun, but motorboats nearby were annoying. They offer sailing lessons. Would be fun to learn sailing there.
The beach was rocky and the water was cold, but overall not too bad for a non-ocean beach.
The bridge was nice and the were a lot of big rocks on the beach.
I got a little wet while kayaking. I also liked swimming at the beach.