A spectacular mix of tidal rivers, salt marsh, open fields, and woodlands define Old Town Hill, a site Indigenous Peoples called Quascacunquen, and lands to the west. In the upland, second-growth forests and fields support ground-nesting birds and serve as hunting grounds for hawks and owls. Mud snails, green crabs, and ribbed mussels live in the tidal creeks and provide food for wading birds, such as egrets and great blue herons. Salt meadow grass, cordgrass, seaside goldenrod, and sea lavender thrive in the tidal salt marsh, created through glacial action some 12,000 years ago. Today, the ebb and flow of the Parker and Little rivers, freshwater streams with sources miles inland that become increasingly tidal as they approach the coast, remain critical to keeping the marsh healthy.

As you follow a three-mile network of trails and pathways through thriving wetlands, you’ll ascend to landscape-level views of a corridor of protected open space along the Parker River. The Ridge Trail climbs moderately, affording vistas to the south, east, and north. The River Trail, a short and especially scenic family-friendly route, passes an old pasture along the marsh’s edge and then loops into an oak forest along the banks of the Little River. Old Town Hill is a link in the Bay Circuit Trail.

The AllTrails website has a description and map of a hike at Old Town Hill.