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Winter Island Park
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
5 reviews for Winter Island Park
Much better than the Willows. More quiet, more isolated, less douchebag rebelious teenagers, less families with screeching kids whose parents ignore them.
The Salem area doesn't have too many great places to relax and unwind, so I consider this place a hidden gem. Hidden as in, everyone goes to the Willows and they ignore/don't know about this place.
We sort of ran into the park by accident while just messing around in Salem. What a neat place, with beautiful views of the water and lots of peace and quiet. In fact we hardly saw another person even through we spent several hours there. A lovely little lighthouse called Fort Pickering is located kinda hidden away behind some trees. We almost walked by it. You can walk right up to it but it is not open to the public. No museums or gift shops, just the quiet little lighthouse sitting here all alone.
Looming views of a huge powerplant type place can be seen to the SW it you're into that kinda of stuff. The park is sort of out of the way, but when your had your fill of the tourist traps in Salem, it's worth the time to find the park for a look at a lovely little lighthouse and some great views of the water.
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I have to disagree with the review below. Being born in Salem, I always looked at Winter Island as a place you can go that not every shithead at the Willows can get into. And don't get me wrong...The Willows is a Salem institution (Hobbs Popcorn, Chop Suey sandwhich) - but can be a bit much on a weekend.
Winter Island is the perfect place to BBQ and drink beers (in a plastic cup), while sitting outside with some awesome views. Wiffle Ball, Volleyball, you name it...you do it.
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3.5 stars. Decent park. We went in the fall and it had some nice autumn foliage. There's a neat little lighthouse but it could stand to be kept up a little better. It's very rusty and there's graffiti on the rocks around it.
Wow, not sure where the reviewer below was walking around. I'm not quite sure what you're judging on the star rating here, as it's such a sprawling place...giving it 2 stars is sort of like rating the woods behind your house...What exactly makes good woods?
Winter Island is a fun place to spend an afternoon. There's a small marina/dock area, where you can watch locals fish. There's a beach which is about as nice as any Salem beach (not great, not horrible). There's a lot of fun rocks to go tramping around on. There was a former army fort here, I believe, and you can still see the remnants in the form of above ground cages blocking off access to underground doorways. Very cool. Also, there's a very nice lighthouse to go check out. Oh, and don't forget the old completely burnt out coast guard's house that has yet to be torn down. You used to be able to walk around in it when I was a kid...now it's fenced off. Incredibly cool tho.
Basically, Winter Island is the type of place to spend a sunny afternoon exploring. It's got enough nooks and crannies (if you get really bored, see if you can find the old Smith Pool, which was constructed by essentially damming off the ocean, and was once the largest public pool in the United States).
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