Beaver Brook Duck Pond Dam - Belmont-Waltham, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 23.591 W 071° 11.867
19T E 319105 N 4695772
The dam holding back the water of the lower pond (Duck Pond) within Beaver Brook Reservation, is a nice place to stop and look at the pond and the cascading waterfall below.
Waymark Code: WMCNDW
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 09/25/2011
Views: 2
On the Belmont, Waltham line is Beaver Brook Reservation, a park maintained by the Department of Conservation and Reservation. In this reservation are two dammed mill ponds. The larger of the two is the lower pond, called Duck Pond on the map.
Parking is available on Mill Street, just up the street (north) of Trapelo Road. Duck Pond is visible from the parking lot. There is also a kiosk with a map that shows the topography and trails of the park. Walk to the left side of the pond from the kiosk and follow the wide path, keeping the water on the right to dam gate.
The dam is a stone and morter and earthen dam. It stretches about 300 feet long. The height of the dam itself is about eight feet high. The top of the dam has iron fencing as well as an area that allows you to view the gate and the stream below. At this spot is an old millstone. The gate has two openings, an upper and a lower one. The valve is visible nearby.
The dam is only part of the overall drop of the brook. Below, the stream cascades through ledge and boulders in a feature called the cascades for another 15-25 ft in elevation. There is a path off the one to the dam that traverses downstream, with a lookout point that allows for views of the Cascades and the dam above.
According to the map, Duck Pond is about 1.4 acres in size and had a depth of about 4 ft. Beaver Brook is a significant tributary to the Charles River, but it is a small stream.
The dam of today likely has been improved since the days when the dam was originally built for the mills here. A fulling mill was constructed here in 1662, and the latest mill was the Plympton Satinet mill, which burned down in 1848. The land was purchased and made into Beaver Brook in 1893.
Take a stroll by pond, and take a look at the pond and cascades!
Source:
Belmont-ma.gov (Public Documents):
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visit link)
Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation) Beaver Brook Reservation:
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visit link)