Bear's Den

For the British band, see Bear's Den (band).

Bears Den Falls

Bear's Den (also called by the name of its most outstanding landmark, Bear's Den Falls^[1]^[2]^[3]) is a 6-acre (24,000 m²) nature reserve in New Salem, Massachusetts. The reservation is close to the Quabbin Reservoir and is owned by the Trustees of Reservations.^[4]^[5]

Name

The property takes its name from a large black bear once shot here "though more romantic -- yet unsubstantiated -- stories exist" according to the Trustees of Reservations.^[5]

Description

The Middle Branch of the Swift River passes through the steep granite cliffs of Bear's Den reservation on its way to the Quabbin Reservoir.^[5] The gorge is 75' deep and rimmed with hemlock.^[4]^[6] At one point, a change in elevation creates a waterfall. According to one description:

So as you walk the 150 yard path from the road and bear left through the jagged opening in the ridge, you have a limited sense of the waterfall being there until you step through and into this amphitheater of Mother Nature. Once inside, you sense an isolation from the rest of the world. It's a great experience and unique for a location so close to the road.^[1]

A short path leads from Neilson Road into the reservation and immediately splits into a leftward path towards the gorge and a rightward path leading to a small cave (the eponymous "Bear's Den") and a stream. These trail is less than one quarter mile of easy hiking.^[7] The reservation is "a tranquil spot for hiking and picnicking."^[8] Seasonal hunting is allowed on the property subject to all state and local laws.

Camping, fires, and unleashed dogs are prohibited. Swimming is discouraged.^[1]^[5] Bear's Den reservation is open from dusk until dawn. The property abuts watershed land and wetlands to the west connecting to the Quabbin Reservoir and owned by the Metropolitan District Commission.^[4]^[5]

History

Metacomet, sachem of the Wampanoag Indians and their war chief during King Philip's War, is believed to have met here with neighboring other Nipmuck chieftains in 1675 to plan attacks the nearby English towns of Deerfield, Hadley and Northampton (^[9] see note). Much later, the falls provided waterpower for grist mills in the area as water was carried by a sluice box, through a channel cut in the eastern cliff, and onto an overshot water wheel. Trustees of Reservations first acquired the property through the 1968 bequest of Mrs. Grais Poole Burrage. In 1988, Mrs. Dorothy Fittz donated additional land.^[5]

References

1 2 3 360° Waterfall Index
↑ Huan Zhang: Waterfalls (huanstaichi.com)
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2008-09-06. New Snow at Bear's Den Falls photo by Guy Biechele
1 2 3 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-08-12. New England Forestry Foundation: North Quabbin Woods
1 2 3 4 5 6 Trustees of Reservations: Bear's Den
↑ This source says that the gorge is 100' feet deep but may be less reliable as it also misidentifies King's Phillip's War as an event of the 1700s rather than the 1600s
↑ New England Waterfalls page on Bear's Den Falls
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-08-31. Valley Viewpoint
↑ The official site of the Trustees of Reservations state this meeting as a fact, but other sources mentioned in the footnotes use less definitive language such as "Stories surround this location, such as Indian chieftains meeting and plotting attacks" () or that this place "is said to have been a meeting place for the local Native American tribes" implying that Metacomet's meeting here with fellow sachem might be more legendary than historical.

External links

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

National Historical Parks	Adams Blackstone River Valley Boston Lowell Minute Man New Bedford Whaling

National Historic Sites	Boston African American Frederick Law Olmsted John Fitzgerald Kennedy Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters Salem Maritime Saugus Iron Works Springfield Armory

Other National Park Service Units	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Cape Cod National Seashore

National Wildlife Refuges	Assabet River Great Meadows Mashpee Massasoit Monomoy Nantucket Nomans Land Oxbow Parker River Silvio O. Conte Thacher Island

Other	Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve West Hill Dam (USACE)

State Parks

Parks	Alewife Brook Ames Nowell Ashland Bash Bish Falls Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Borderland Boston Harbor Islands Bradley Palmer C. M. Gardner Callahan Castle Island State Park Chicopee Memorial City Square Clarksburg Cochituate Connecticut River Greenway Demarest Lloyd Dighton Rock Dunn Ellisville Harbor Fall River Heritage Gardner Heritage Great Brook Farm Halibut Point Hampton Ponds Holyoke Heritage Hopkinton Lake Lorraine Lake Wyola Lawrence Heritage Lowell Heritage Lynn Heritage Massasoit Maudslay Moore Mount Holyoke Range Natural Bridge Nickerson Pearl Hill Pilgrim Quinsigamond Robinson Roxbury Heritage Rutland Skinner South Cape Beach Wahconah Falls Webb Memorial Wells Western Gateway Heritage Whitehall Wompatuck

Reservations	Beaver Brook Belle Isle Marsh Blue Hills Breakheart Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Dorchester Shores Elm Bank Fort Phoenix Hammond Pond Hemlock Gorge Horseneck Beach Jug End Lynn Shore Middlesex Fells Mount Everett Mount Greylock Mount Sugarloaf Mount Tom Myles Standish Mystic River Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Nasketucket Bay Neponset River Pope John Paul II Purgatory Chasm Quincy Quarries Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Salisbury Beach Sandy Point Scusset Beach Stony Brook Upper Charles River Wachusett Mountain Walden Pond West Island Weymouth Wilson Mountain

Other	Appalachian Trail Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Cape Cod Rail Trail Fort Revere Lake Dennison Recreation Area Lower Neponset River Trail Nashua River Rail Trail Norwottuck Rail Trail Quabbin Reservoir Southwest Corridor Park Squantum Point Park Streeter Point Recreation Area Sudbury Reservoir Wachusett Reservoir Ware River Watershed Area

State Forests

Wildlife Management Areas

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Wildlife Sanctuaries	Billingsgate Island Carr Island E. Howe Forbush Egg Rock Grace A. Robson J.C. Phillips Knight Penikese Island Ram Island (Salisbury) Ram Island (Mattapoisett) Susan B. Minns Tarpaulin Cove Watatic Mountain

The Nature Conservancy

Black Pond Bog Boat Meadow Francis Newhall Woods Grassy Pond Greene Swamp Halfway Pond Island Hawley Bog Hockomock Swamp Hoft Farm Homer-Watcha Preserve Katama Plains McElwain-Olsen Miacomet Moors Reed Brook Drury Sandy Neck David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail Stacy Mountain Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations

Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuaries

Arcadia Broad Meadow Brook Broadmoor Daniel Webster Drumlin Farm High Ledges Ipswich River Moose Hill North River Pleasant Valley Stony Brook Wachussett Meadow Wellfleet Bay

Other

Concord Land Conservation Trust Harvard Forest Lincoln Land Conservation Trust Lloyd Center for the Environment Lynn Woods Reservation Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary

Category
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Commons

Coordinates: 42°32′31″N 72°19′34″W / 42.54194°N 72.32611°W / 42.54194; -72.32611

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