Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Street (MA 27) Bridge Foxborough, uppermost crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.14644, -71.25550 | The first road bridge on the mapped river; Elm Street crosses 20 m upstream and the Franklin Branch railroad 60 m below. |
| 2 | Main Street (MA 1A) Bridge Walpole | Bridge crossing | 42.15318, -71.24737 | |
| 3 | Plimpton Street Bridge Walpole | Bridge crossing | 42.15933, -71.23447 | |
| 4 | Bird Pond Dam Walpole | Dam / hazard | 42.16285, -71.21786 | Mapped in OSM as three overlapping structures; one dam on the ground. Portage or take out above it. |
| 5 | Hollingsworth & Vose Dam East Walpole | Dam / hazard | 42.16390, -71.21292 | Mill dam on the old Hollingsworth & Vose paper works. |
| 6 | Morse Street Bridge Norwood | Bridge crossing | 42.17299, -71.20482 | |
| 7 | Pleasant Street Bridge Norwood | Bridge crossing | 42.17738, -71.20033 | |
| 8 | Boston-Providence Turnpike (US 1) Bridge Norwood | Bridge crossing | 42.17700, -71.19202 | |
| 9 | Bade Canoe Launch Norwood, carry-in | Access / boat ramp | 42.17780, -71.18952 | The only named launch on the freshwater river and the usual put-in for the Fowl Meadow flatwater. Carry-in; no trailer ramp. |
| 10 | Fowl Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary Canton / Milton, on the bank | Park / conservation area | 42.16430, -71.17551 | Mass Audubon wetland reserve wrapping the Fowl Meadow reach. Several separate OSM polygons; this is the one on the water. |
| 11 | Farnham-Connolly State Park Canton, 0.34 km off | Park / conservation area | 42.16717, -71.16409 | DCR Division of State Parks and Recreation. |
| 12 | Canton Street / Dedham Street Bridge Canton / Dedham town line | Bridge crossing | 42.19701, -71.15491 | One crossing; the street changes name at the town line, so OSM carries it as two named ways. |
| 13 | Green Lodge Street Bridge Dedham | Bridge crossing | 42.20918, -71.14580 | Blue Hill Drive crosses 20 m alongside. |
| 14 | I-95 / US 1 / MA 128 Bridge Yankee Division Highway, Dedham | Bridge crossing | 42.20999, -71.14458 |
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Neponset Valley Parkway Bridge Hyde Park | Bridge crossing | 42.23452, -71.12256 | |
| 16 | Truman Parkway Bridge Hyde Park | Bridge crossing | 42.23756, -71.12509 | The Neponset River Greenway footbridge crosses within 30 m. |
| 17 | Neponset River Reservation DCR, Hyde Park to Dorchester Bay | Park / conservation area | 42.25210, -71.12188 | A single DCR reservation carried in OSM as roughly a dozen separate riverside parcels from Hyde Park down to the bay; this pin is a central one. The Greenway path runs through most of them. |
| 18 | Tileston and Hollingsworth Dam Hyde Park | Dam / hazard | 42.26104, -71.11047 | Mill dam; the lowest dam above Lower Mills. |
| 19 | Central Avenue Bridge Milton / Mattapan | Bridge crossing | 42.27030, -71.07328 | The Mattapan trolley line and the Greenway both cross within 40 m. |
| 20 | Walter Baker Dam Lower Mills, head of tide | Dam / hazard | 42.27074, -71.06884 | The dam at the old Baker Chocolate mills. Everything below it is tidal; everything above it is fresh. |
| 21 | USGS gauge - Neponset River at Lower Mills Boston / Milton | USGS gauge | 42.27081, -71.06835 | Sits beside the Walter Baker Dam at the head of tide, so it reads the freshwater river rather than the estuary. |
| 22 | Adams Street Bridge Lower Mills | Bridge crossing | 42.27109, -71.06814 | Eliot Street crosses 70 m upstream. |
| 23 | Milton Landing Milton, tidal ramp | Access / boat ramp | 42.26944, -71.06552 | OSM maps the slipway itself without a name and the ground around it as Milton Town Landing. First tidal launch below the dam; a second unnamed slipway sits 60 m downstream. |
| 24 | Public slipway, Port Norfolk Dorchester, tidal | Access / boat ramp | 42.27844, -71.05128 | Tagged access=yes and left unnamed in OSM, as is a second service-road slipway 170 m upstream. The last trailered launch above Dorchester Bay. |
| 25 | I-93 / US 1 / MA 3 Bridge Southeast Expressway, Dorchester | Bridge crossing | 42.27780, -71.04858 | The lowest crossing; the HOV ramps cross alongside. |
| 26 | Neponset Landing Park Quincy, river mouth | Park / conservation area | 42.28405, -71.03763 | |
| 27 | Senator Joseph Finnegan Park Neponset River Reservation, Dorchester | Park / conservation area | 42.28815, -71.03859 |
Gauge: USGS 011055566 — NEPONSET RIVER AT MILTON VILLAGE, MA. Live flow on the web page.
Species: American Eel, Bluefish, Largemouth Bass, Striped Bass, White Perch
Regulations: www.mass.gov/recreational-saltwater-fishing
Emergency: call 911 and give the number of the nearest point on this map plus its coordinates.
Milton Village - the gauge reach at the head of tide, with bank access.
Neponset River Greenway - paved path and bank access along the lower river.
Pope John Paul II Park - Dorchester parkland with river frontage and parking.
Neponset Marshes - the tidal marsh channels below the park, kayak access.
Dorchester Bay - the open water at the river mouth.
Port Norfolk - access to the lower tidal river and boatyard area.
Mother Brook - the historic channel connecting toward the Charles.
Spring: the best of the year, with herring running and stripers stacked at the head of tide.
Summer: schoolie stripers and white perch through the tidal reach, bluefish occasionally.
Fall: a second push of bass as bait leaves the marsh, good through October.
Winter: quiet, with white perch and the odd holdover fish in the deeper water.