UPDATE: Memorial Day Weekend Opens Hopkinton Park

EDITOR'S NOTE: The sections in italics, added at 12:50 p.m. on May 27,  include state Department of Conservation and Recreation updates including dates and hours when the beaches will be guarded and dates and hours when parking fees will be collected for the 2011 season.

Hopkinton State Park opens for the season Saturday, May 28, which means lifeguards will be on duty, the bathrooms will be open and the park will start charging for parking.

The $5 parking fee will be on weekends and holidays only until June 18 when the park will begin collecting parking fees daily through Labor Day.  Collection hours are 9 to 5:30 until June 18, and from June 18 to September 5, 8 to 5:30. Parking fees will continue after Labor Day from Sept. 10 to Oc. 10 from 9 to 5:30.      

Guards will be on the main (lower) beach starting Saturday for weekends and holidays from 11 to 6 until June 18 , after which daily lifeguard coverage continues through Labor Day. 

Upper Reservoir Beach will be open but unguarded until June 18. Daily lifeguard services will start then on the upper beach and continue until Labor Day.

The park, mainly in Hopkinton with a corner of the reservoir and trails nudging into Ashland, was created when the Sudbury River was dammed.

Besides the beaches, there is stocked fishing, the Split Rock reservable group picnic site (which has already been reserved every weekend but not all weekdays through the season), 12 tree shaded, first-come first-served picnic areas with 300 picnic tables and 165 charcoal cooking grills, 10 miles of marked trails, open field space and a concrete boat launching ramp for non-motorized watercraft.

To see what dates are available and reserve the Split Rock group picnic site, please call Hopkinton State Park (508) 435-4303. A $100 fee is needed to book the site plus $5 per vehicle on the day of the outing.

Outdoor Recreation of Hopkinton provides seasonal boat rentals (508) 435-3965.  

Environmental educational programs will be offered during the summer.  

Hopkinton State Park on Cedar Street (Rte. 85) and Lake Whitehall on Lumber Street (Rte. 135) are part of the Division of Conservation and Recreation. The DCR manages 450,000 acres of forests, parks, greenways, historic sites, landscapes, seashores, lakes, ponds, reservoirs and watersheds in Massachusetts.

• Park hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Lifeguards will be on duty from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The main area waterfront has a handicapped-accessible ramp to the sandy beach. No pets on the beaches.

• Auto parking is $5. A Parks Pass (for all DCR properties) is $35 in-state/$45 out of state

• Pets on leashes are welcome.

• Please no:
  • Alcohol
  • Ground fires and wood fires (cooking fires of charcoal or propane are allowed in designated areas only)
  • Swimming at unsupervised beaches
  • Littering
  • Gasoline powered watercraft on Hopkinton Reservoir
  • Motorized vehicles on trails
  • Floatation devices
  • Hunting or trapping

   

• Trail system is multi-use.  Hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians are welcome.

The Against the Tide Swim, Kayak, Walk or Run fundariser to fight breast cancer will be held at the park on Saturday, June 18.

Ashland State Park will remain closed for the 2011 season.