List of National Natural Landmarks in Massachusetts

The National Park Service has designated eleven National Natural Landmarks in Massachusetts. Most of these are bogs, swamps, wetlands and old growth forest.

Name	Image	Date	Location	County	Ownership	Description
Acushnet Cedar Swamp		June 1972	New Bedford	Bristol	state	One of the state's largest, wildest and most impenetrable swamps, and an outstanding example of the diversity of conditions and species in the glaciated section of the oak-chestnut forest.[1]
Bartholomew's Cobble		October 1971	Ashley Falls	Berkshire	private (The Trustees of Reservations)	Contains over 800 plant species, including North America's greatest diversity of ferns.[2]
Cold River Virgin Forest		April 1980	Mohawk Trail State Forest	Berkshire, Franklin	state	Probably the only virgin hemlock-northern hardwood forest in New England, with the hemlocks and sugar maples exceeding 400 years in age.[3]
Fannie Stebbins Refuge		June 1972	Longmeadow	Hampden	municipal	The area contains the only sizeable example of Connecticut River flood plain under preservation, exhibiting many successional stages including upland and flood plain forest, swamp, marsh, ponds, and meadows.[4]
Gay Head Cliffs		October 1975	Aquinnah	Dukes	native lands (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head)	An unusual cross section of Raritan and Magothy sediments of Cretaceous age and fossil-bearing sands of Miocene and either Pliocene or Pleistocene ages that rise as much as 150 feet (46 m) above sea level, resting on the continental shelf and detached from the mainland. The center of Wampanoag native culture.[5]
Hawley Bog		May 1974	Hawley	Franklin	private	Unspoiled cold northern boreal sphagnum-heath bog occupying an old shallow glacial lake basin which demonstrates bog succession from the central open water pond to the surrounding spruce-fir forest.[6]
Mt. Greylock Old Growth Spruce		November 1987	Adams	Berkshire	state	This site contains three separate stands of undisturbed old growth red spruce on the northwest slopes of Mt. Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts. These stands have been undisturbed for at least 150–180 years, and may be virgin. No other old growth red spruce stands are known in southern New England, while only a few comparable or better sites occur in northern New England.[7]
Muskeget Island		April 1980	west of Tuckernuck and Nantucket Islands	Nantucket	municipal, private	The only known locality where the Muskeget beach vole is found, and southernmost station where the gray seal breeds. The area supports an enormous nesting population of herring gulls and black-backed gulls.[8]
North and South Rivers		May 1977	Norwell	Plymouth	state, municipal, private	Classic examples of drowned rivermouth estuaries, supporting at least 45 species of fish and many species of birds. The site contains salt marsh, brackish marsh, and freshwater marsh areas.[9]
Poutwater Pond		June 1972	Holden	Worcester	state	An undisturbed sphagnum-heath bog in southern New England, illustrating ecological succession from open water in a glacial depression to upland forest.[10]
Reedy Meadow was Lynnfield Marsh		June 1972	Between Wakefield and South Lynnfield	Essex	municipal,	The largest freshwater cattail marsh in Massachusetts. The area preserves the habitat requirements of many bird species and serves as a breeding ground for the king rail and least bittern, rare species in the region.[11]

See also

• List of Massachusetts state parks

References

1. "Acushnet Cedar Swamp National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
2. "Bartholomew's Cobble National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
3. "Cold River Virgin Forest National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
4. "Fannie Stebbins Refuge National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
5. "Gay Head Cliffs National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
6. "Hawley Bog National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
7. "Mt. Greylock Old Growth Spruce National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
8. "Muskeget Island National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
9. "North and South Rivers National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
10. "Poutwater Pond National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
11. "Lynnfield Marsh National Natural Landmark". National Park Service. US Gov. Retrieved 2009-05-17.

External links

• National Park Service, National Natural Landmarks - Massachusetts