Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers Overview

NPS Arrowhead Graphic and Link to NPS Website

Contact
Information:

NPS Contact: Lee Steppacher
Lee_Steppacher
@nps.gov
(617) 223-5225

Sudbury, Assabet & Concord River
Management
Council

www.sudbury-
assabet-
concord.org/
index.htm

A Northeast Region Program

Marie Rust
Regional Director

A more lovely stream than this, for a mile above its junction with Concord, has never flowed on earth.
Nataniel Hawthorne, Referring to the Assabet

Scenic Beauty Just Outside Boston

The Sudbury, Assabet & Concord Rivers have been remarkably undeveloped considering their close proximity to the Boston metropolitan area. With ten of the twenty-nine designated river miles lying within the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the Sudbury, Assabet & Concord Rivers offer abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation, are awash in scenic beauty, and provide prime waterfowl habitat in the form of large areas of riparian wetlands.

The Old North Bridge on the Concord River

An Important Part of Our History and Literature

A unique legacy is woven through historical sites along the rivers' path. The Minute Man National Historical Park - located near the Town of Concord contains the Old North Bridge, site of the "Shot Heard Round the World." Securing a place in American literary history, the rivers are featured in the works of authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and perhaps most famously in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn as he refers to the Old North Bridge quoted in part below.

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

Designated River Segments

Portions of the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers were designated as Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers on April 9, 1999. The designated segments include: a 14.9 mile segment of the Sudbury River beginning at the Danforth Street Bridge in the town of Framingham, downstream to the Route 2 Bridge in Concord; the 1.7 mile segment of the Sudbury River from the Route 2 Bridge downstream to its confluence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock; the 4.4 mile segment of the Assabet River beginning 1,000 feet downstream from the Damon Mill Dam in the town of Concord, to its confluence with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock in Concord; the 8 mile segment of the Concord from Egg Rock at the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers downstream to the Bridge in the town of Billerica.

Classification/Mileage: Scenic--14.9 miles; Recreational--14.1 miles

Rescuing the Lee Bridge: A Partnership River Success Story

Last Updated:
March 25, 2003