Salem, Massachusetts
Salem Willows
Photo: Fletcher6, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A long, narrow park on the water at the tip of Salem Neck, with a new fishing pier, a historic avenue of trees, and the willows it is named for.
Written for ages 3–12.
Researched from this park's own sources. Nobody's walked it yet.
Read this bit out
The first willows here were planted in 1801, to shade people getting better from smallpox at a hospital nearby. In 1888 the city made this stretch of coast a park, so that it would belong to everybody instead of to anybody. Since then it has had a merry-go-round, ice cream, concerts and a fishing pier, and it is still a park today.
One of your three free places, or the Explorer Pass. What that costs
Before you go
- Time there
- Plan on about an hour and a half at the park.
- Parking
- Salem Willows Park is at 165 Fort Avenue. A city recreation sticker covers only the lots by the tennis courts and across from Dead Horse Beach; check the city's page for other parking.
- Underfoot
- Long and narrow along the water, with the fishing pier at the northeast tip and a historic avenue of trees running back from it.
- Stroller
- A stroller is fine here.
- Food
- Restaurants and snack stands line Fort Avenue, and families picnic in the park.
22 challenges written for this place
A game deals seven to fifteen of them, so no two visits are alike.
4 things to spot, 3 photographs to take and 3 things to work out.
Every game includes this one
Find The Willows
This park is named after its trees. Find one and stand under it.
A few of the others
Out On The Pier
Walk out along the pier as far as you are allowed.
Down The Avenue
One photo looking straight down the line of old trees.
With The Sea Behind
One photo of everybody with the water behind you.
Their Turn
Hand the phone to the youngest. They take one picture of whatever they want.
A Park Since 1888
This has been a park since 1888. Work out how many years that is, and how many great-grandparents ago.
Somebody Planted These
These trees did not choose to grow in a line. Work out how long ago somebody put them there.
The rest are a surprise — that's the whole point.
Also around Salem
Salem Maritime National Historical Park
Salem
A half-mile wharf into Salem Harbor with a little solar-powered lighthouse at the end, and the Custom House where Nathaniel Hawthorne worked.
Winter Island
Salem
Fort Pickering's 1643 earthworks, a lighthouse at the tip, a beach, a campground and a path along Cat Cove, at the mouth of Salem Harbor.
Play this at Salem Willows
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.