• Village Park/Abrams Rock
• Main Street, Swansea, MA
• Trailhead: 41°44’55.86″N, 71°11’25.02″W
• First Time Hiked: March 19, 2014
• Last Time Hiked: July 19, 2019
• Approximate distance hiked: 2.3 miles
• Easy with some elevation. Moderate to difficult climbing is optional.

Village Park was my after work choice for a hike today. This was strictly a last minute decision and I hadn’t done much research on it. I had originally thought of checking out Anawan Rock in Rehoboth but I was more in a hiking mood than a short exploratory excursion. I have known about Abrams Rock (which is in Village Park) for a while but had never got around to checking it out until today. This property is widely known for off road bicyclists. The trails are rather narrow and there are wider fire roads. I did not have a set route in mind when I arrived but I figured I would at least venture out and look for the landmarks that intrigued me. I started this hike from the parking lot behind the Swansea Town Library. I first walked by a cemetery before the fire road veered to the left. I shortly came upon a gate. Just after the gate I turned left and followed the Lakeside Trail as it passed a soccer field before following the shore of a small lake. I took some pictures here in black and white of the clouds and lake. Near the end of this trail there is a dam and waterfall. I then found my way onto the Rusty Car Trail and ironically enough came across an old rusty car. I then followed some fire roads to Wildcat Rock. The rock is one of three rather large and impressive puddingstone boulders in the park. I decided to climb to the top of the rock and see how things (injuries) felt. The sense of accomplishment made the climb well worth it. However, going up was the easy part as I’m still having great difficulty with downhill climbs. After I scaled down the rock I found myself meandering through the Boulderdash Trail and the Two Guys Trail before reaching Abrams Rock. This rock is the largest in the park towering 40 feet above the trail. So I climbed it. After spending some time at the top and taking in the beauty and lonely solitude of Mother Nature I scaled back down and made my way back to the entrance and back to the car. I did discover a few things today. One, I am in much better shape than I was when I climbed the Hemlock Ledges Overlook last spring, and two, I’m still not completely healed from last summers injuries. As with most painful things in life, this will go away someday.

For more information about Abrams Rock and its history, a new book has been published by Michael J. Vieira and J. North Conway called New England Rocks: Historic Geological Wonders (2017). The book also features the photo below.

Trail map can be found at: Village Park.

Abrams Rock