Today there is a Vision and a huge effort among across the state of Massachusetts to link hundred’s of open spaces to parks and trails, natural resource areas, and important community features.
The towns of West Bridgewater, MA and Bridgewater, MA embrace this vision with the goal of linking town owned conservation areas to the nationally recognized Bay Circuit Trail on the historically important Town River in order to satisfy diverse environmental, economical, educational, recreational, and social needs.
Greenways are corridors of land and water that link together natural, cultural, and recreational resources – a riverfront walkway, a bicycle path, an urban walking trail connecting historical sites in neighborhood parks; wildlife migration corridors and a series of open spaces joined by trails are all examples of greenways.
The Nunckatessett Greenway is a network of trail spurs connecting the Town River and the Bay Circuit Trail to municipal and state conservation areas, historical sites, urban centers, school districts, Bridgewater State University, the Hockomock Swamp, and the Wild & Scenic Taunton River. Set aside for passive recreation by the towns of West Bridgewater and Bridgewater, the Nunckatessett Greenway connects people to the natural world.
Known today as the Town River, the Nunckatessett River originates in the Hockomock Swamp. This meandering, 14-mile river corridor is one of the earliest areas of colonial settlement dating back to the mid-1600s. Before then it was home to the Pokanoket Tribe and other ancient American civilizations that flourished in southern New England for thousands of years. The Town River, with several Colonial era industrial sites on the National Register of Historic Places, flows through the centers of West Bridgewater and Bridgewater before converging with the Matfield River to form the Wild & Scenic Taunton River, now federally protected under the National Park Service.
Use the links below or the menu above to explore each of the areas in detail.