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• Winter Solstice Sunrise Walk at Poles Hill

  • When
    Sunday, December 21, 2025
  •  
    7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
  • Location
    Riverview Rd. Poles Hill entrance, Gloucester, MA
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  Join us for our annual Winter Solstice sunrise walk at an ancient solar observatory at Poles Hill in Gloucester!

  CATS Board member and Poles Hill Trail Steward Sandy Barry will lead a walk at Poles Hill to view the Solstice Sunrise from  the "Gnomon" (a boulder placed by Native Americans over 2000 years ago as part of a Solar Observatory that marks the location of the Solstice and Equinox sunrises and sunsets). 

  For more information about this ancient Solar Observatory at Poles Hill (also called "Sunset Hill"), click HERE to view a short video explaining it. 

  After the sunrise, Sandy will lead those who are interested on a short hike along trails within the Poles Hill Conservation Area, including a scenic overlook with expansive views to the ocean.  Total walking distance will be approximately 1 mile at a leisurely pace, over moderate terrain that includes boulders and granite ledge.   We will expect to be finished with the walk by 8:30am or sooner.

  
  

  (Poles Hill Winter Solstice Sunrise at the Gnomon, 2024)

  
  

  Meeting Spot:  Meet at 7:00 am at the CATS kiosk for Poles Hill off of Riverview Rd. in Gloucester.  Sunrise on December 21 is at 7:10 am.   

  
  

  See map of the Poles Hill Entrance location HERE.    Park on the side of Riverview Rd., but please be courteous to the neighbors.  After you turn onto Riverview Rd. from Wheeler St., the entrance to Poles Hill is a small dirt road on the left, just after the  house at 6 Riverview Rd.   Additional on-street parking is also available on Linden Rd., Corliss Ave., or Apple St. (all of these roads are parallel to Riverview Rd.)

  
  

  NOTE:  If there is rain/ snow, OR if there is significant cloud cover forecasted for Sunday the 21st (which would block any viewing of the sunrise), we will postpone this walk to Monday the 22nd.  If there is a postponement, we will notify everyone via email by 8pm on Saturday the 20th.

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• Sunday Morning Hike- Pigeon Cove Loop from Summit Ave. to Carlson's Quarry

  • When
    Sunday, December 28, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Location
    Summit Ave. Rockport, MA
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  Join us for a winter hike in Rockport’s Town Forest and granite quarry lands.

  This will be the reverse of a route we first explored on a group hike last winter. Starting from Haskins Park at the top of Summit Ave., we will follow a hidden trail down to Squam Road, then wind our way through the woodlands of Manning Park on our way up to Carlson's Quarry, which serves as Rockport’s water supply, and offers spectacular views (including ocean views this time of year!).   

  From Carlson's  we will detour through rugged quarry country, passing smaller quarries as we make our way west to the colorful “Bad Dog Trail". Turning south, we’ll pass through the Rockport Town Forest and walk along Briar Swamp to the water tower road, which will take us back to our starting point.

  

  Photo of Carlson's Quarry from a January 2025 CATS hike

  
  

  The route is a mix of wide and narrow trails with easy to moderate ups and downs and plenty of rocks and roots underfoot. Total distance is about 3.5 miles. Allow  2 hours from the starting point.  See the route on a GaiaGPS map HERE.

  
  

  
  

  Meeting spot:

  We will meet at the top of Summit Ave. in Haskins Park, on the circular drive near the Pool Hill water tower (bear right through the stone pillars near the top of the hill before reaching the water tower).  There is plenty of parking.  See the location in Google Maps HERE.

   

  Please arrive early (we recommend planning to arrive between 9:50 and 9:55 am in order to be ready for the group's 10 am departure).  The hike will depart promptly at 10 am.

  
  

  Please note that dogs are not permitted on the Sunday Morning Hikes.  If you are interested in getting notified of Dog-Friendly hikes with the Cape Ann Sunday Hikes group, you can join their Google group list from The Cape Ann Sunday Hikes home page.

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