Coonamessett River – Upper Bogs

Address: 154 Hatchville Rd, East Falmouth, MA 02536

The town’s acquisition of cranberry bogs along the Coonamessett began in 1971 with bogs near John Parker Road. Three years later, the town purchased more bogs to the north, including about 10 acres off Hatchville Road called the Upper and Lower Baptiste bogs. They are a piece in the linkage of several hundred acres of conservation land that includes the Matt Souza and Dupee conservation areas on the other side of Hatchville Road and the Coonamessett Reservation to the north. The Baptiste bogs abut the 6.6-acre Toner parcel owned by The 300 Committee and the 3.6-acre George Souza Preserve.

The entrance to the Baptiste Bogs is diagonally across Hatchville Road from the small parking area for the Matt Souza Conservation Area. There is ample parking for visitors by the metal building in front of the bogs. The building is a treatment plant erected by the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence to treat the plume of contaminated groundwater flowing from the military base through the bogs.

The path between the upper and lower bogs passes a large pool of water that is actually the Broad River, an upwelling of spring water that feeds the Coonamessett River. The path continues past private bogs and the river to Thomas Landers Road. Another town bog, called the Thompson bog, is across the road.