Towns: Bolton, Harvard, Lancaster
Acreage: 978
Wildlife Management Zone: 9
Description
The diverse habitats and seasonally flooded areas of Bolton Flats WMA are home to both common and uncommon wildlife. The Nashua and Still Rivers wind their way through forested floodplains and along wet meadows and agricultural fields. Changes in the rivers’ courses over time have created small scattered oxbow ponds. Several hundred acres of land are leased to local farmers who grow hay and row crops. The Pine Hill area features a large glacial sand deposit that gives rise to unique sandplain grasslands. The northern tip of the WMA touches the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, which protects an additional seven miles of the Nashua River. The Devens Reserve Forces Training Area lies to the west and contains hundreds of acres of undeveloped lands. Sections of the WMA are mowed annually to provide wildlife habitat. Additional field areas are reclaimed as they become overgrown.
Location, access, & parking
There are parking areas beyond the red barn off Route 110 and on the north and south sides of Route 117 just east of the Nashua River Bridge. Access to the Pine Hill section is via Pine Hill Road off Route 117. Additional access is located adjacent to the model airplane field which is across Route 110 from the former Lancaster School for Girls. See WMA map.
Note: WMAs are intentionally wild, visitors will find natural landscapes rather than maintained trails.
Hunting & fishing opportunities
MassWildlife stocks ring-necked pheasants up to three times per week on both sides of Route 117 during the fall season. The rivers and wetlands provide excellent waterfowl hunting that is most easily accessed from cartop boats. Agricultural fields south of Route 117 attract Canada geese and provide extensive edge habitat frequented by white-tailed deer and wild turkeys. Many areas in the northwest of the WMA can only be accessed from a canoe or kayak. Anglers can fish the Nashua River for sunfish, chain pickerel, and largemouth bass. Launch cartop boats from the boat access site at the Route 117 bridge. The Still River contains similar species as well as native brook trout. Anglers can gain easy access to the Still River behind the red barn at the parking area off Route 110.
Wildlife viewing & other features
This is a premier birding location during periods of high water. Scores of migrating waterfowl, and often shorebirds, are drawn to the inundated fields and forests. Great blue herons, green herons, and glossy ibis, along with elusive rails and bitterns, also live in the wetland areas. Look for American kestrels, grasshopper and vesper sparrows, prairie warblers, and brown thrashers in the distinctive pitch-pine-dotted sandplains in the Pine Hill area. On spring and early summer evenings at Pine Hill, watch for American woodcock displays and listen for eastern whip-poor-wills. Multiple vernal pools serve as breeding habitat for spring peepers, wood frogs, and spotted salamanders.
Regulations
During the pheasant season, a blaze orange hat must be worn by all hunters except while night-hunting raccoon or opossum or while hunting waterfowl from within a blind or boat. No person shall hunt before sunrise or after sunset during pheasant season, except for the hunting of raccoon or opossum between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
Read Wildlife Management Area regulations.
About Wildlife Management Areas
MassWildlife owns and manages over 220,000 acres of land to conserve fish and wildlife habitats and provide access for outdoor recreation. All WMAs are open to hunting, fishing, trapping, and other outdoor recreation activities. Visit the MassWildlife Lands Viewer for an interactive map of MassWildlife properties.
You can support land protection in Massachusetts. Contributions to the Wildlands Fund help pay for the cost of acquiring wildlife habitat. Learn more about the Wildlands Fund.