Sandy Point State Reservation - Geography

Geography

Sandy Point State Reservation is on a large spit of sand at the southern end of Plum Island: "Sandy Point." Plum Island Drive, a dirt road on the southern half of Plum Island, ends at the foot of a hill of glacial origin, Bar Head. Rocks: "Bar Head Rocks," extend from a 19th century gravel pit in the side of the hill into the water. Some of them have been formed into a rudimentary breakwater at the high water line. At present Harbor Seals have been observed basking in these rocks and in Emerson Rocks slightly further north in the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. They are rare; visitors cannot count on seeing one. They are advised by sign not to approach a seal if one is present. The presence of the seals has also brought their main predators back to the waters off Plum Island: sharks. Although shark attacks are extremely rare as yet, sightings are not. Among them is the Great White Shark. Swimmers either from the beach or from boats off the beach are advised to consider the dangers.

On the north side of Bar Head is Stage Island Pool, a fresh-water pond created on the vestiges of a 19th-century salt works. It is named after Stage Island, the esker that forms its northern border. The drying vats stood where the pool now stands; gravel was mined from the hill to place a circular protective access road around what is now the pool area. Within it was a canal and within that the vats. A dike was placed across the mouth of what was then Bar Island Creek (now non-existent) dividing it from Stage Island Creek and creating an impoundment in the canals, kept full by several pump-up windmills and a treadmill. Water was periodically channeled from the canal to the drying vats. The salt works was not profitable and did not last long. The dike was kept, behind which fresh-water runoff drowned the vats and the canal, creating a convenient refuge for birds.

Maps typically do not show the property lines accurately. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge extends to the foot of Bar Hill on the southern side of Stage Island Pool; that is, the pool is not in the state park. Stage Island belongs to Cross Farm, the only private farm remaining on Plum island. The trail on state land along the southern half of the pool, which follows the old salt-works road, does not extend to the northern side; the visitor is warned off by no trespassing signs. A private residence is visible there. The road on the east side of the pond also is not state land. The dunes in this area have been stabilized with stands of Black Pine. Visitors are restricted from the dunes and in summer the beach on the federal reservation. A large variety of rarely seen birds may feed and rest in and around the pool. An observation tower on federal land, open in the summer, is of use in viewing the birds.

The state park contains mainly the hill and the sand spit, a maritime feature. The Atlantic Local Coastal Pilot of 1879 gives detailed instructions for sailing into the Ipswich River and Plum Island Sound from the Atlantic. It advises the captain of a sailing vessel to heave to and send for a pilot, as "The bar at the entrance to Ipswich Harbor is of shifting sand and changes its position with every heavy gale ...." The channel went, and still goes, between two bars, North Breaker, extending from Sandy Point, and South Breaker, extending from the vicinity of Castle Hill. In 1879 they were marked by buoys and lights. Currently North Breaker is marked by a spar buoy and South Breaker by a can buoy, in addition to the channel buoys. At low tide North Breaker is nearly entirely exposed.

The reference points out the difficulty in 1879 of anchoring either off the mouth of the channel or in Plum Island Sound, as the currents may cause the vessel to drag anchor. Currently Ipswich Harbor is sprinkled with mooring buoys securely fastened to the bottom. At low tide water in the channel may be as deep as only 5 feet (1.5 m), which is true today. As at the northern end of Plum Island, tidal currents through the channel are unusually swift; moreover, the sands near the low tide mark are uncompacted and form quicksands. In the age of wooden sailing vessels, it was possible for small cargo vessels to sail up the Ipswich to unload their cargos closer to town. Today mainly motorized recreational vessels are seen in marinas along the river.

The reference estimated the height of Castle Hill — called that even then — at 125 feet (38 m). Bar Head was estimated to be 40–50 feet high and was bare of trees. Today the entire hill is covered with a dense and impassable thicket, a refuge for birds. A trail has been cut from the beach to a vegetation-choked wooden observation tower on the summit.