Ranger station
Picnic area
Restrooms
Hiking trails
Campground
Bumpkin Island
Public park. On weekends and summer weekdays, Bumpkin Island is accessible by a shuttle boat to and from Georges
Island, which connects from there with ferries to Boston and Quincy. Small and picturesque, Bumpkin Island was home
to American Indians, a fish-drying operation, tenant farmers, a naval training camp, polio patients, and more. Now it’s a
quiet camping destination, with ten smaller campsites (max. capacity 4 each) and one group campsite (max. capacity
25). Its slate and shell beaches and open areas make Bumpkin a relaxing place to wander. Walk trails lined with
wildflowers. Explore the remains of a stone farmhouse and children’s hospital. Watch the sun rise from your campsite.
Calf Island
Public access. Access is by private boat only. Over the years, several huts and houses were built on the island, including a
colonial style summer estate built by Benjamin P. Cheney, Jr. and his wife, actress Julia Arthur, in 1902. Today only ruins
remain. In the 1920s, the Army planned to install a pair of 16-inch (410 mm) guns on Calf Island as part of the Harbor
Defenses of Boston, along with 16-inch (410 mm) gun batteries on Deer Island (now underneath Logan Airport) and Hog
Island (now called Spinnaker Island), to cover the seaward approaches to Boston Harbor. The battery on Calf Island was
never built.
Castle Island
It is currently a 22-acre (8.9 ha) recreation site, the location of Fort Independence. Castle Island is open to the public
year round. During June, July and August, the fort is open on Thursday nights from 7:00 p.m. until dusk to allow for
visitors to walk the ramparts. After Labor Day the fort is only open on Sundays until Columbus Day, then open for three
days of the holiday then closed for the season. It later opens the last weekend in October for Halloween, from noon till 4
p.m. Public restrooms are open March 1 through the last Sunday in November.
Chappel Rock
public park
Coughlin Park
Public park under flight path of Logan Airport with benches, picnic tables, playground, and sports fields. Free parking at
end of Bay View Avenue.
Deer Island Park
public use park
Egg Rock (Nahant Bay)
The state of Massachusetts took over Egg Rock in 1927 and maintained it as a bird sanctuary. Egg Rock Light survives
only in history and legend.
The Graves
This bedrock outcropping is one of the Brewsters, a group of the outermost islands in the park. It is an active Coast
Guard navigational aid facility, so the buildings are not open to the casual visitor and there are no public rest rooms on
the island. The Graves is not open to private boaters. There is no docking. Boaters must anchor off shore.
Gallops Island
Closed to the public since 2000 due to the presence of asbestos-containing building debris from former military uses.
The island is named after John Gallop, one of Boston Harbor's first pilots, who lived on the island. The island was used by
Native Americans. Located in the center of the harbor, the island served as home to one of the region's first harbor
pilots (including John Gallop), as a restaurant and inn, a military camp, quarantine station, and radio school. During the
Civil War this small island is attributed with housing 3,000 Union soldiers. During World War II a radio school housed 325
people and a school for bakers and cooks accommodated 150 people.
Georges Island
Historic Fort Warren is on the island. Because of this, and since a ferry operates from Boston to the island, it is a popular
destination and one of the easiest islands to access in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island
has fields for recreational use, a small food vendor, and a dock available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
It is served throughout the summer and early fall by ferries to from Boston and Quincy and on weekends and summer
weekdays by a shuttle boat to and from the surrounding islands. Today the Massachusetts Department of Conservation
and Recreation owns and staffs the island. Rangers patrol and give interpretive tours. The island is open to the public
May through October.
Great Brewster Island
Public access. The birds are aggressive during nesting season and access by humans, which is by private boat only, is
discouraged during that time. Like the neighbouring islands of Little Brewster, Middle Brewster and Outer Brewster,
Great Brewster Island is named after William Brewster, the first preacher and teacher for the Plymouth Colony. More
recently the island has been home to summer cottages for local families and for soldiers who manned an observation
post during World War II. The military post included rapid-fire guns, searchlight stations, and a command post that aided
in controlling the harbor’s minefield.
Green Island
Public access. The birds are aggressive during nesting season and access by humans, which is by private boat only, is
discouraged during that time. Also known as North Brewster Island, it is exposed from the east and northeast with little
soil or plant life. The island is named after Joseph Green, a well-known merchant, who owned the island during Colonial
times. During 1845, a fifty year old seaman named Samuel Choat came to green Island and lived here as an independent
spirit for the next twenty years. Choat constructed a crude house here and made his living by fishing on the local waters.
His main diet was lobster, fish, and mussels. Choat could not be encouraged to leave Green Island, even during the
coldest winters.
In 1851, during the storm that destroyed Minot's Ledge Light off Cohasset, the tide rose so high that the inhabitants of
Green Island had to be rescued by the Boston Pilot boat. In another storm in 1862, Choat's boat was broken up on the
rocks surrounding the island. He was taken to Boston, where he purchased another boat and quickly returned to Green
Island.
Due to the severity of the cold weather during the winter of 1865, Choat had to be removed from Green Island. He was
70 years of age at the time. On February 8, Choat was transferred to the State Almshouse in Bridgewater where he died
on Feb 23, 1865.
In 1869, Barrel Rock, a massive boulder of Medford granite that was deposited by an ancient glacier just west of Green
Island, was removed by Major General Foster.
Langlee Island
Public Access. Today, it is uninhabited and has an interesting mix of cultivated and naturalized plants, and access is by
private boat only. This island's main feature is a 40-foot cliff of pudding stone. There are several informal footpaths that
traverse the island to views on ledges. Much of the island is impenetrable due to poison ivy and brambles. The island
was used seasonally by Native American Indians. Colonists probably removed trees for firewood. Since this time the
island has changed ownership several times but retains the name of John Langlee, who purchased the island in 1686.
The island was later bought by John R. Brewer, passed to his children, and then given to the town of Hingham by a
descendent. In an 1893 account, The History of Hingham, author Bouve describes Langlee as:
“a beautiful spot. Steep ledges surround it, except for small intervals, where there are gravelly beaches, upon one of which
stands a fine linden. Shrubs abound upon the uplands. It will be, in a few years, more beautiful than now, thanks to the
enlightened taste of the gentleman who owns it. He has planted many small trees, which will eventually cover it with forest
growth, as was originally the case when the country was settled, and restore it to the condition in which all the islands of Boston
harbor should be. Had they been kept so for the past two centuries, the forces of erosion would not have succeeded in
practically sweeping some of them from the face of the earth, and destroying the contour of all.”
Over one hundred years later, the island contains several remarkable trees, including oak, maple, cedar, and birch. Most
notable is an enormous oak in the center of the island that has become part of a camping area. The abundant shrubs
described by Bouve in 1893 have likely been eliminated by these large shade trees. Groupings of huckleberry and
viburnum appear to have self seeded and are mixed with greenbriar, dewberry, sumac, and poison ivy. Several grassy
areas under large trees appear to be popular camping spots.
Little Brewster Island - Because it is still the site of an active Coast Guard facility, opportunities to visit the island are
restricted, although guided tours of the island and light are available. It is best known as the location of Boston Light, the
only remaining Coast Guard-manned lighthouse in the United States, and an important navigation aid for traffic to and
from the Port of Boston.
Long Island
Permission to enter the island must be obtained in advance since it is a restricted area. The island is part of the Boston
Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Long Island is currently used to support social service programs, as it has since
1882, contained in Boston Public Health Commission Long Island Health Campus facilities in 19 buildings on 35 acres
(140,000 m2). This large campus of buildings presently houses the Long Island Shelter for the homeless in the Tobin
Building since 1983, Project S.O.A.R. in the Administration Building since the Fall of 1995, Pine Street Inn's Anchor Inn,
Andrew House (which moved there in 1987 from Dorchester, Massachusetts), the Wyman Community Re-entry
Program, Joelyn's Family Home, and others.
Lovells Island
Today, Lovells Island is a popular camping island, with picnic areas and walking trails through its dunes and woods,
together with a non-supervised swimming beach. On weekends and summer weekdays, it is served by a shuttle boat to
and from Georges Island, connecting there with ferries to Boston and Quincy.
Middle Brewster Island
Public access. The birds are aggressive during nesting season and access by humans, which is by private boat only, is
discouraged during that time.
Moon Island
Moon Island is owned by the City of Boston and is no longer available for public access or use. As with many of the other
islands in Boston Harbor, municipal and federal authorities have obtained ownership of Boston Harbor islands over the
centuries. Most have never returned to private ownership or use.
Nickerson Beach
public park
Nut Island
public park
Outer Brewster Island
Public access. The birds are aggressive during nesting season and access by humans, which is by private boat only, is
discouraged during that time. The relative barrenness and rocky shoreline of Outer Brewster has resulted in limited
human usage. A granite quarry was operated on the island in the 19th century, and a coastal defense battery, known as
Battery Jewell, was built on the island during World War II. Both are now disused and abandoned.
Peddocks Island
Public access. The island is home to the now-defunct Fort Andrews, active in harbor defense from 1904 to the end of
World War II, on its eastern end, and a group of privately-owned cottages on its western end. There are also campsites
on the eastern end of the island. In 2011, Boston granted $7.8 million dollars to renovate the island. This will fund a
program in which 11 buildings will be demolished and a further 11 restored, in an attempt to make the island more
visitor friendly. Additionally walking and hiking trails will be provided, along with tours of the historical buildings.
Ragged Island
Public cccess. Today, it is uninhabited and has an interesting mix of cultivated and naturalized plants, and access is by
private boat only.
Rainsford Island
Access is by private boat only. The island is known to have been used by Native American Indians and, during the
colonial period, was occupied, farmed and grazed. Between 1737 and 1925 the island has served as a quarantine
hospital, unmarked burial ground for the diseased and criminals, almshouse, veterans hospital, reform school, and
resort. However only foundations and a dilapidated seawall still survive from these uses.
Sarah Island
Public access. The birds are aggressive during nesting season and access by humans, which is by private boat only, is
discouraged during that time.
Shag Rocks
Public access, but Boston Light on Little Brewster Island warns mariners to steer clear of the rocks. Public access is
impractical.
Sheep Island
Public access. In the 1600s, the island covered more than 25 acres and was called "Round Island." The island was deeded
to the town of Weymouth in 1636 and used for grazing sheep. In the 1800s, the island was used by recreational camping
parties. A residence and hunting lodge were constructed then abandoned. The island has eroded to three acres.
Resident birds are very territorial during nesting: visitation is discouraged during this season.
Slate Island
This island is relatively inaccessible due to the dense thickets of poison ivy, raspberry, and barberry.
Snake Island
Today the island is uninhabited and classified as "conservation land". Access is by private boat only.
Spectacle Island
Public park. Archaeological evidence suggests Native Americans used the island as a fishing and clamming spot starting
around 600 AD This continued till around 1615, when European diseases killed virtually all of the native population.
Europeans began use of the island in the 1630s, first as a source of firewood, then as a smallpox quarantine. From the
1730s, the island housed farmsteads and picnickers.
Starting in the early 19th century, the island was used exclusively for its relative remoteness from Boston. Two hotels
were built in 1847, only to be closed by police ten years later when it was discovered they were used for gambling and
other illicit activities. In 1897 the Spectacle Island Range Lights were constructed; they were discontinued after changes
in the shipping channel in 1913.
A horse rendering plant was built in 1857, followed by a city trash incinerator that remained active until 1935. When the
incinerator closed, trash was simply dumped on the island for the next thirty years, until a bulldozer was suddenly
swallowed up by the trash in 1959. The island remained a smelly, leaking dump until the 1990s.[5]
When the Big Dig began work in Boston in 1992, some of the excavated dirt and clay was used to resurface the island.
The island was covered and built up by dirt, capped with two feet of clay, and covered with two to five feet of topsoil.
Thousands of trees were planted, and paths, buildings, and a dock were built. The island opened to the public in June
2006, for use as a recreational area with hiking trails, a beach, and a marina with boat slips for visitors. It also has a cafe
and visitors center.
Thompson Island
The island is managed by the Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, a non-profit education organization.
The island is open to visitors on summer Sundays; otherwise access is by arrangement only. Explore on your own, take a
tour into the salt marshes or tour with a guide to learn about history of the island.