(Mile 39.0 to 42.0) January 13, 2008 - Dover/Needham to Elm Bank

The recent warm weather and rains have opened up the river - not long ago the ice was thick enough to walk on...all that remains is a skirt of ice on the edges and in some slower moving chanels. Parked at Riverside Drive, Dover, and kayaked upstream in the direction of Elm Bank and the South Natick falls.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1550410


Prior to crossing the Dover Road bridge, it is hard to ignore the pair of large homes perched on the north side of the river.



The Dover Road bridge (between Dover and Needham) is not a viable put-in due to the busy road and marshy riverbanks.




I had intended on reaching the Elm Bank put-in, or even the South Natick falls, but was surprised to find an aqueduct from 1876, which carries water from Quabbin Reservoir to Boston. There are some easy places to reach land on the west side of the aqueduct - it is just a hundred yards uphill to the top of the aqueduct.