Manchester Pond Reservoir

TLDR

Manchester Pond Reservoir is a Drinking water reservoir for the City of Attleboro, Massachusetts. There is a 4.5-mile hiking loop or out and back hike on 165 acres. The whole area around this pond is noisy. It is located between Interstate Routes 95 and 295 so there is a constant drone of traffic as you hike. This is a popular fishing spot. There is a lot of trash. The trails were pretty muddy, and the mud was pretty deep in spots. These areas can be bypassed by using trails on higher ground. Dogs are allowed, no camping, swimming, firearms, boating or vehicles. This is not really an accessible trail if your mobility is limited. Trails are not marked, but you’re going either around the reservoir, or along the shore out and back, so it’s hard to get lost. I wouldn’t recommend the loop. It is very unlikely that I will hike here again.

Background

This trail would be near the bottom of my list, mainly because of the potential for highway noise. I have a friend who lives nearby and wanted to try it for a dog training hike. He invited me along, and it’s been a month since my last hike so this was exactly the push I needed to get out the door. I grew up in Attleboro, and I’ve been to Manchester Pond Reservoir many times, but never to hike. We rode our bikes over to this spot to go fishing a lot when I was growing up, and even a few times as a young adult, but it’s probably been 35 years or more since I’ve been here. One of the burning questions about this area is if it’s even legal to hike here. I can say confidently yes. The local paper did a story on the access issue.

This area has been heavily used for many years for hiking and fishing, and ultimately the users ran afoul of the neighbors. People living near the reservoir complained that people were parking their cars up and down their streets and causing disturbances. Ultimately it went to the City Council, and they approved the area for hiking. They still haven’t solved the parking problem in my opinion. You can get a ticket for parking at either access.

Where to access

By far the most popular entrance is on Beagle Club Road, Attleboro, MA. This road ends in parking lot. If you’re a city resident you can get a parking pass for free, and if you’re not you can pay for one. The form is here: I could not find any information on the fees on the town website or elsewhere, but my local sources told me they are 25 or 50 for Massachusetts residents or 50 or 100 for out of state. That’s pretty pricey for a 1-day pass.

My friend and I parked at Clifton St., Attleboro, MA. Displaying the supreme arrogance of “I was born here” and boldly ignoring the “no parking” signs, we set on our way. We also assumed that we probably went to high school with the dad of whatever officer might ticket us. I think we probably got lucky because the weather wasn’t great for walking around writing tickets. You cannot access the reservoir from West St. without trespassing so I wouldn’t recommend it.

What to see

The main feature of the area is the reservoir, and the trail goes right along the shore the whole way around. We started to go clockwise around the reservoir “just to see” and ended up at the stretch of path that went along the highway. This is not a pleasant walk at all, but from where we were standing it looked pretty short and a decent path at least. The actual distance is a half-mile. Neither of us wanted to turn around and do an out-and-back hike, so we carried on. I would strongly recommend against it. The last 50 feet or so was covered with boulder sized rip-rap, and some of the stones were loose. The next quarter mile of the trail follows along the shore, but this stretch of path is not widely used, so it’s very overgrown. A lot of the growth is poison ivy, so if you don’t know what that looks like you’re in trouble. This path goes along backyards for a good stretch, and the abutters dump yard waste over their fences which does block the way in places, probably by design.

There was some wildlife, there were several Canada Goose pairs with young chicks, and I heard an oriole but I couldn’t see it because the foliage is just starting to get too dense for good birdwatching. Sadly I didn’t see the bald eagle that some trail reviewers have reported. There are some huge anthills on the northern side of the reservoir coming back. My best guess is they are Allegheny Ants, based on this article about some mounds on Cape Cod.

Worth a return trip?

There were some pretty extensive blueberry patches on the shore by the Clifton St. entrance toward the highway, so that might be a good excuse to swing by when they’re ripe after the middle of July. It almost makes me want to go back with a coffee can on a shoelace around my neck like we used to do when we were kids.

While I had a very nice time, the focus of this hike was time spent in good company and pleasant conversation, not absorbing the outdoors. For this reason alone I enjoyed this hike more than many of my recent ones where nature is more natural. It’s a beautiful reservoir, and the setting is lovely, but it just can’t make up for the negatives. It’s just not what I’m looking for when I go outdoors. Add to that the parking uncertainty. I have to admit that coming back to a parking ticket would definitely ruin my day, and I’m so spiteful that I’d likely boycott the town if they ticketed me. I’m looking at you Pawtucket.