Weekend visitors crowd local parks, prompting 2-hour closure windows

With blue sky, temperatures reaching the 70s, and cabin fever, residents have packed local parks across Massachusetts this weekend, calling on the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to control crowds.

The department posted to social media throughout the weekend, informing people that some parking areas and roads leading to park summits were closed, while other parks were implementing two-hour closures when they reach capacity.

The closures shut down parking lots to additional visitors for the two hours after a park reaches capacity. This did not mean that those who are currently in the park were mandated to leave, but rather that additional park-goers were unable to use the parking lot until the two-hour closure expires.

To help control crowds, the main parking lot at Hopkinton State Park was closed this weekend, although the group site lot remained open.

At Wachusett State Reservation, the road to the summit of Wachusett Mountain was also closed.

On Sunday, the department tweeted that Blue Hills State Reservation in Milton would be closed for at least two hours.

The department also tweeted a closure update for Francis Parkman Drive.

On Saturday at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, trails were open, but not everyone was seen wearing masks or social distancing.

“My feeling is that it has to do, not only with the weather getting better, but also hearing other states talking about reopening things in May,” said Emma Needles, a hiker and a Belmont resident. “And I was just noticing in Belmont, I think there are more cars on the road, so it does feel like we’re starting to notice a change.”

Needles added that she, overall, felt safe on the trails, but that she does wonder what will happen later this spring and into the summer.

“I do feel like, in general, people are being a little more ‘lax’ than they were in weeks past. I haven’t been to this specific park, but in the woods, I feel like I’m now seeing people, or maybe just more people coming out and less people walking off the path when people come by,” she said.

Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, Walden Pond State Reservation in Concord, Blue Hills, and Wachusett had two-hour closures on Saturday as they reached their maximum number of safe visitors.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s twitter account continues to provide updates on park closures around Massachusetts.

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