LocationsCape Ann
3 parks · 65 challenges · Massachusetts
Outdoor things to do with kids in Cape Ann
In Rockport and Gloucester.
A flooded granite quarry on a cliff, a seaside meadow with a brook through it, and six hundred acres of woods somebody spent a lifetime buying.
Finish all 3
Play every park here and your family are Explorers of Cape Ann.
Where to go, and what to expect
Halibut Point State Park
Rockport, Massachusetts · 21 challenges
A granite quarry filled with water on a cliff edge above the Atlantic, tide pools on the rocks below, and forty miles of view to Mount Agamenticus in Maine on a clear day.
About an hour and a halfBathrooms
Underfoot. Trails around the quarry and out onto open granite ledges above the sea. Open 8am to sunset, year round.
Parking. The lot is at 4 Gott Avenue. $5 with Massachusetts plates and $20 without, from late May to mid-October; free November through April. The YODEL app is accepted.
Millbrook Meadow
Rockport, Massachusetts · 22 challenges
Rockport's seaside park, where a brook runs out of a two-acre pond, over a dam, through the meadow and under a bridge on its way to the sea — with a granite whale and a playground at the top of it.
About an hourStroller fine
Underfoot. A small flat seaside park with a pond, a brook running through it, a bridge, gardens and a playground.
Parking. The main entrance is from Beach Street at Front Beach, and there are ways in from King Street and Mill Lane. Rockport charges for beach parking in season — check the town's page before you drive over.
Ravenswood Park
Gloucester, Massachusetts · 22 challenges
Six hundred acres of quiet woods with ten miles of old carriage paths through them, enormous boulders furred over with ferns, and an overlook down to Gloucester Harbour.
About 2 hoursStroller in places
Underfoot. Ten miles of old carriage paths and trails. The two-mile Ledge Hill Trail is the child-friendly one and runs among fern-covered boulders; another route climbs to an overlook above Gloucester Harbour.
Parking. Free to everyone. Parking at 481 Western Avenue, which is Route 127.
Play all 3 around Cape Ann
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.