Tully Lake Recreation Area (ma)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invites you to come relax at Tully Lake, where there are a variety of outdoor recreation activities for you and your family. Although the dam was built primarily to reduce flood damages on the Millers and Connecticut Rivers, the 1,300-acre reservoir area provides a place for you to get away from it all and connect with nature. Activities in and around the lake include mountain biking, camping, disc golf, hiking, picnicking, boating, and fishing and hunting in the appropriate seasons. The Tully Lake Pavilion is located in the recreation area and offers picnic tables and grills. Maximum group size is 50 people, with parking for 25 passenger vehicles at the upper gravel lot. The recreation area also has a small playground for young children, a volleyball court and a horseshoe pit. Bathrooms are provided, but there is no running water. The 1,262-acre Tully Lake property is managed to sustain a healthy ecosystem for future generations, and the thriving biodiversity of the Tully River Valley and the interconnections of its forests, wetlands, waters and wildlife are valued and managed for the long term. Tully Lake is home to a wide variety of wildlife, from tiny insects and song birds to large mammals such as deer and moose. Fifty-five percent of the reservoir area is wetlands, providing habitat for fish, waterfowl, song birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals such as beaver, mink and otter. The rest of the property provides habitat for upland species such as deer, coyote, fisher, owl, fox, raccoon, skunk, porcupine, rabbit and squirrel. The forest within the reservoir area is composed primarily of white pine, providing habitat for owls and woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks and white-tailed deer. At the north end of the lake there is a tent-only campground run by the Trustees of the Reservations, which provides a perfect launching point to enjoy the outdoor attractions nearby. Ten miles away is Birch Hill Dam, another Army Corps project that provides miles of trails and river to explore. The Quabbin Reservoir is also within a short ten-mile drive; it serves the city of Boston as its water supply and is a unique area, as four towns were flooded to create it, and it has some of the most interesting blends of human and natural history in the region.