The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is "To protect, promote and enhance our common wealth of natural, cultural and recreational resources for the well-being of all." The agency is the largest landowner in Massachusetts.
Mohawk State Forest, also known as Mohawk State Forest/Mohawk Mountain State Park, encompasses over 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) in the towns of Cornwall, Goshen, and Litchfield in the southern Berkshires of Litchfield County, Connecticut. As overseen by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the area is used for hiking, picnicking, and winter sports by the public, while being actively managed to produce timber and other forest products.
Wells State Park is a public recreation area located off Route 49 in the town of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The state park includes frontage on Walker Pond and the scenic metamorphic rock cliff face of Carpenter Rocks. Terrain is rugged with ledges interspersed between wetlands. Woodlands are of the oak-hickory forest and northern hardwood forest types with groves of eastern white pine. The park is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Dighton Rock State Park is a public recreation area and historic preserve located on the eastern shore of the Taunton River in the town of Berkley, Massachusetts. The 98-acre (40 ha) state park is the site of a small museum that houses the Dighton Rock, an 11-foot-high (3.4 m) glacial erratic, covered with petroglyphs, that once sat on the banks of the river. It is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Dorchester Shores Reservation is a Massachusetts state park consisting of three non-contiguous areas totaling 44 acres (18 ha) along the eastern edge of the Dorchester section of Boston. The area is composed of beaches and a park along the extended mouth of the Neponset River: Savin Hill/Malibu Beach, Tenean Beach, and Victory Road Park. Savin Hill is adjacent to Malibu Beach and has been restored to its original Olmsted Brothers design. The reservation is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Douglas State Forest is a publicly owned forest with recreational features located in the town of Douglas, Massachusetts, bordering both Connecticut and Rhode Island. The state forest's 5,525 acres (2,236 ha) include Wallum Lake and a rare Atlantic white cedar swamp, 5 acres (2.0 ha) of which are designated as a Massachusetts Wildland. The forest is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Lake Dennison Recreation Area is a 121-acre (49 ha) Massachusetts state park located in the town of Winchendon. It comprises a small portion of the 4,221 acres (1,708 ha) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Birch Hill Flood Control Project that are managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and that also include Otter River State Forest.
Sandisfield State Forest is a Massachusetts state forest filled with rolling hardwood forests in the town of Sandisfield. It is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. A highlight of the forest is York Lake, which was created from swampy ground by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935.
Savoy, Mountain State Forest is a Massachusetts state forest located primarily in the towns of Savoy and Florida, with portions extending into neighboring Adams and North Adams. Situated along the Hoosac Mountain Range, it features four ponds, and seven hill and mountain summits, including Lewis Hill (2177 ft), Flat Rock Hill (2195 ft), Spruce Hill (2566 ft), and Borden Mountain (2505 ft). Also within the forest are at least two notable waterfalls, Parker Brook Falls and Tannery Falls, the latter of which is a 100-foot (30 m) drop. The forest is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Myles Standish State Forest is a state forest located in the towns of Plymouth and Carver in southeastern Massachusetts, approximately 45 miles (70 km) south of Boston. It is the largest publicly owned recreation area in this part of Massachusetts and is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Lake Wyola State Park, also known as the Carroll A. Holmes Recreation Area, is located in the town of Shutesbury, Massachusetts. It is a state-run recreation area located on the shores of Lake Wyola.
Erving State Forest is a publicly owned forest with recreational features located north of the Millers River in the towns of Erving, Warwick, and Orange, Massachusetts. The property is centered on Laurel Lake, a 51-acre (21 ha) body of water that has been a popular recreational destination since the 1930s. The forest's network of roads and hiking trails were largely created by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The forest is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Nickerson State Park is a state-owned, public recreation area of more than 1,900 acres (770 ha) located on Cape Cod in Brewster, Massachusetts. The park's sandy soil and scrub pines surround many kettle ponds which are dependent on groundwater and precipitation. The largest of these are Cliff Pond, Flax Pond, Little Cliff Pond, and Higgins Pond. Ruth Pond, Keeler's Pond, Eel Pond, and Triangle Pond provide additional water habitats.
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR) encompasses open waters, barrier beaches, marshlands and uplands on the south shore of Cape Cod in the towns of Falmouth and Mashpee. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Pope John Paul II Park Reservation, officially the Saint Pope John Paul II Park, and also known as Pope Park, is a 66-acre (27 ha) Massachusetts state park bordering the Neponset River in the Dorchester section of Boston. The park was reclaimed from the former site of a landfill and the Neponset Drive-In as part of the Lower Neponset River Master Plan and the development of the Neponset River Reservation. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Pearl Hill State Park is a 1,000-acre (400 ha) Massachusetts state park located in the town of Townsend about 50 miles (80 km) from Boston. The park lies adjacent to Willard Brook State Forest and is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Quinsigamond State Park is a public recreation area comprising two day-use areas along the western shore of Lake Quinsigamond in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. The Regatta Point area is across North Lake Avenue from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, north of Route 9. The Lake Park area is south of Route 9. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Old Furnace State Park is a public recreation area adjacent to Ross Pond State Park in the town of Killingly, Connecticut. The state parks covers 367 acres (149 ha), sits at an elevation of 390 feet (120 m), and is open year-round for hiking, hunting, and fishing. It is located east of Interstate 395, south of U.S. Route 6 and north of Connecticut Route 695. The park is the site of a former iron furnace. It was established as a town park in 1909 before being transferred to the state in 1918.
Nasketucket Bay State Reservation, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, is located in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, along the coastline of southeast Massachusetts. The park includes 210 acres (85 ha) of rocky shoreline open field and wooded trails. A parking lot is located at the northeast corner of the reservation.
Floras Lake is a natural 236-acre (96 ha) body of water on the southern Oregon Coast of the United States. Fed by four small tributaries from a basin of about 10 square miles (26 km2) in Curry County, it lies about 10 miles (16 km) north of Port Orford and 2 miles (3 km) west of U.S. Route 101. It was probably named for Fred Flora, a 19th-century settler and miner who lived nearby.
