Williams Preserve and Wright Reservoir

Town of Duxbury: 781-934-1100

Owned By: Town of Duxbury

• Directions
• Trail Map

Duxbury’s Williams’ Preserve offers 3+ miles of trails through 200 acres of woods and wetlands, plus views of the Wright Reservoir. A new trail, honoring Duxbury’s longtime Conservation Administrator Joe Grady, was added in 2026. Extend your exploration by also visiting Gifford Bog, immediately adjacent.

Hunting is not allowed on this property.

Features

The property is named for wildlife enthusiast Jack Williams, who built a homestead here c. 1911 and inhabited it for 92 years. There was a cranberry bog and a Christmas tree farm on the property, both of which Williams worked.

Prior to European contact, the Mattakeeset band of the Massachuseuk (or Massachusett) Native American tribe lived for thousands of years in the North River watershed. Their village included most of today’s Pembroke and Hanson. Meanwhile the Patuxet band of the Wampanoag tribe inhabited the Jones River watershed, and the area now known as Kingston, Plymouth and Duxbury. This property lies within the upper portion of the Green Harbor River watershed — right between those two territories. It’s possible that both tribes utilized the area.

To learn more about local Native American tribes, we encourage you to interact with their members. The Mashpee Wampanoag, the Herring Pond Wampanoag, the Mattakeeset band of the Massachusett, and the Massachusett tribe at Ponkapoag share information on their websites.

Trail Description

Look for the parking area and property sign on Frontage Road. There is a short trail that leads to a power easement. Turn left there (look for a green marker) and then after 0.06 miles, look for the blue blazes, which you can follow for the entirety of your visit.

Suggested hike: To follow the 2.3-mile loop around the property, begin by following the blue-blazed trail west along the power easement. You will cross unpaved roads at approx. 0.15 miles and 0.3 miles. Immediately after the second crossing, look for the trail that leads into the woods. It continues for about 1/3 mile, crossing some wetlands with bog boards and a boardwalk. Next you will arrive at an intersection. While you can turn left here to continue west to Gifford Bog, we recommend that you turn right and continue along the blue-blazed trail. Soon you will pass a red-blazed trail on the right that you can skip for now. A short distance later, you’ll get your first view of Wright Reservoir. The Grady Trail continues through the wood, along the western and northern borders of the reservoir, with additional bog boards and boardwalks. At 1.3 miles, you will arrive at an unpaved. Turn right and remain on the unpaved road, as this section passes through private property. About a tenth of a mile later, the trail takes a sharp turn to the right. Continue, passing between two cranberry bogs. At 1.86 miles, you’ll pass the red-blazed trail again, this time at the opposite end. (To extend your visit, consider checking out this trail as well, going out and back.) The blue loop completes at just under 2 miles. Continue through the power easement to return to your starting place. Just before the parking area, there is another, shorter loop trail off the power easement, to the left, if you wish to explore further.

Another way to access the property is to park at Gifford Bog, another Duxbury conservation property. Cross Temple Street, and look for the green-blazed trailhead near #149 Temple. From this corner of the property, you can follow a power easement east to the Frontage Road parking area, or turn left and follow the blue-blazed Grady Trail, which forms a 1.7-mile loop.

Altogether there are 3+ miles of trails on the property. In general, they are well-marked and well-maintained.

Habitats and Wildlife

There are several habitats here. Pine-oak forest, swampy wetlands, grassy power easements, cranberry bogs, freshwater marsh, and the reservoir. Other trees include cedars, birch, maple, tupelo, and sassafras, plus some viburnum and sweet pepper bush.

Wright Reservoir is a major source of the Green Harbor River. Green Harbor Brook flows east from the reservoir, and merges with another stream to form the Green Harbor River. The river twists and turns through Marshfield, flowing through Red Gold Farm, the Green Harbor Golf Club, the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, property owned by the Marshfield Municipal Airport, and Peter Igo Park. Just downstream of the Dyke Road bridge (and dike) it flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Green Harbor.