Maudslay State Park

Maudslay State Park
Massachusetts State Park
Pinus strobus standing free in a meadow at Maudslay.
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Essex
City	Newburyport
Coordinates	42°49′16″N 70°55′29″W / 42.82111°N 70.92472°W / 42.82111; -70.92472Coordinates: 42°49′16″N 70°55′29″W / 42.82111°N 70.92472°W / 42.82111; -70.92472
Area	483 acres (195 ha)
Founded	1985
Management	Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Location in Massachusetts
Website: Maudslay State Park

Maudslay State Park is a Massachusetts state park located in Newburyport. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. It is available (by permit) for weddings and other programs.

Maudslay State Park is a landscaped and decorative park along the right bank of the Merrimack River. It features thickets and gardens, rolling meadows, tall pines, and one of the largest naturally occurring stands of mountain laurel in the Commonwealth. Within the park, visitors can also find numerous ornamental trees, such as azaleas, and rhododendrons.

The park is bordered on the west side by the Artichoke River, which is also the border between Newburyport and West Newbury. Curzon Mill, not currently used as a mill, and neighboring houses at the mouth of the Artichoke, where it flows into the Merrimack, remain in private hands. The bridge over the Artichoke is closed.

The most striking natural feature of the park is the primeval stands of white pine on the steep slopes and bluffs of the river, which appear never to have been logged. The laurel forms a continuous thicket along the forest floor around the pines, which are so tall that their tops are not visible in the upper canopy from below. The canopy is a nesting site for bald eagles, who from time to time disrupt traffic by perching in isolated pines hanging over the river outside of the park. The stands are found also in the few ravines that lace the park.

The park covers approximately 450 acres (180 ha) of the right bank of the Merrimack River, a tidal estuary at its lower end. The main channel of the estuary runs beneath the bluffs of the park. The channel is navigable to small craft and is marked by buoys. The swift currents and high bacteria counts render the waters useless for swimming or bathing, as well as adding an element of danger to the careless boater. Swimming in the Merrimack is prohibited from within Maudslay State Park. Seasonal floods often sweep away the docks, damage the bridges, flood the homes and wash out low-lying roads on the riverbank. Despite these dangers the lower river is home to a substantial industry of facilities for docking, storing and repairing recreational boats.