Beaver Brook Playground

Ralph Hamlin Jr Blvd, Abington, MA 02351, USA

(781) 982-2125

Owned By: Town of Abington

• Directions

Large well-shaded playground adjacent to school properties. A secluded woodland trail along the Shumatuscacant River leads from the playground to Mount Vernon Cemetery. There is also small fishing pond.

Features

The land that is now the town of Abington was known as Manamooskeagin (“land of many beavers”) by aboriginal tribes. Even though the school and playground on this property are named after Beaver Brook, it’s actually the Shumatuscacant River that flows through the property. Beaver Brook itself is located elsewhere in town!

The playground is situated at the rear of this property, behind the middle school, and across Ralph Hamlin Jr. Lane from Beaver Brook Elementary School. It was constructed in 1990 and has held up remarkably well for a playground made primarily of wood! There is an additional, smaller playground directly behind the elementary school. Town-owned athletic fields are here as well — football, baseball, softball, plus some asphalt courts.

At the very end of Hamlin Lane, the road ends with a bridge. To the left is a fishing area. To the right, a short paved trail leads down to the Shumatuscacant River. If you go straight across the bridge, you will see additional trails — to the left, to the right and straight.

Trail Description

At the very end of Hamlin Lane, go straight across the bridge. Trails extend in three directions — to the left, to the right and straight. The trail to the left extends for about 0.2 miles through the woods to the rear of the 61-acre Mount Vernon Cemetery, which is an excellent place to extend your walk. The trail that goes straight leads more quickly to the rear of the cemetery. The trail to the right continues through a quiet forest along the Shumatuscacant River, over some small rolling hills, to a gravel trail near the entrance to the cemetery. This is a lovely little walk along a very pretty stretch of the river (approx. 0.3 miles). Don’t miss the concrete bridge and small cemetery plot on a knoll above the river near the end of the trail.

Habitats and Wildlife

The woods here are primarily oak, beech and maple, with some birch and sumac, plus grapevines. Deer have been spotted here. Due to the proximity of the MBTA train tracks, and also the ambient sound of a busy playground, they seem less skittish about noise.

Look beyond the name — it’s actually the Shumatuscacant River that flows through this property, not Beaver Brook. The Shumatuscacant is part of the Satucket River watershed; Beaver Brook is part of the Matfield River watershed. They both eventually flow into the Taunton River.