Slope soaring sites in Massachusetts.
David sent this in from The Granite Glider Guiders a southern New Hampshire area club.
Deer Island is just minutes from downtown Boston and offers both east and west facing slopes. The property is part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Public areas are open dawn to dusk every day. Using the address 175 Tafts Ave., Winthrop, MA 02152 will get you close. The parking area is at the end of Tafts Ave.
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Jan sent in this update. IMPORTANT INFO HERE!
Meant to write you last summer after reading your Wellfleet parking paragraph. Things have become even more restrictive since 2007. In May 2008 my friend was flying at Duck Harbor when the National Seashore environmental ranger told him to cease flying because of endangered species (piping plover) nesting on the beach below. While we used to park at the Great Island parking lot, and walk to the slope, it is no longer possible to use this slope in the summer (mid May to Labor Day). Same goes for other Cape beaches – depends on nesting site location.
Here’s the thread from RC Groups – http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=870844&highlight=piping+plover
I have been to Cape Cod a couple of times before and have checked out a few of the slope soaring spots listed on the CRRC site that Helmet wrote a few years back. I’ve always had excellent flying while staying at the Seascape and hitting a few of the local hills. This year the wind was a bit more west on Thursday so I decided to try the dunes at Duck Harbor near Wellfleet.
Seems that the city of Wellfleet owns the beach at Duck Harbor and from the third Saturday in June to Labor Day will not issue a beach parking permit to anyone not staying in Wellfleet. I am staying in North Truro and so can not get a legal pass to the beach during the day. After 5PM there are no restrictions but knowing about the restrictions earlier in the day would have saved me some time.
By the way, if you are staying in Wellfleet and looking for the place to get a parking pass just go to the harbor and check in at the Beach Parking Permit House.
I got to the Seascape about 2PM on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 and had a good hour of slope flying the Weasel and the Bee but the wind died off as the rain that had been in the area all morning passed.
I took a drive to look over Duck Harbor about 5PM and sloped the small dunes to the right as you walk up to the beach with my Polecat XP-4 DLG while Syd, Garrett and Wendy hunted for shells. There are some roped off areas for the Plover nesting grounds to the left and I did not walk further to check out the higher dunes there as the wind was light. May check that area on Thursday if the 20kph West winds arrive.
Thursday was supposed to be West winds so I took a drive with the family over to Wellfleet and Duck Harbor. After 30 minutes or so of searching for the place to buy a parking permit for the beach we were thwarted by the City of Wellfleet and their Summer Beach Parking Pass Policy or SBPPP. Seems from the 3rd Saturday of June through Labor Day the city only issues parking passes to residents and guests of the city proper. Since we were staying in North Truro we did not rate a parking permit at any cost! I haven’t confirmed it yet but the parking people in Wellfleet informed me that Corn Hill in the City or Truro has the same policy, only for Truro residents and guests.
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Had this link on the site for a while but it was buried. Good info on Cape Cod slopes. I’ve been there myself and there are some super spots with slope soaring possible from almost any wind direction.
Here’s a great slope site in Mass, The Mohawk Trail. 800 vertical feet high at least. West facing slope and the wind is always west here.
Here’s a panoramic shot.
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The spot is the western most summit of the Mohawk Trail, Heading out of North Adams follow RT.2 East – after a short drive up the mountain you will come to the Deadman’s curve “almost a 360 degree turn, then up another long ascent. At the very top of that first summit is a gift shop, directly across the street on that corner is a small dirt road. Down the dirt road 50 yards park next to the large antenna and radio shack, follow the trail in back of the shack to the launching site. 800 vertical feet below you, always a strong west wind. Tough landing EPP slopers recommended.
We arrived at the Seascape Motel on Monday evening after an 8-hour drive from Philly. I checked in, unloaded the family and the car and stepped out the ocean side door to behold a beautiful sight. The 80-foot (give or take a few feet) slope about 20 steps from my door. There was a light SW breeze coming in and a lazy 30-minute flight with the Cyberdyne DLG was just what the doctor ordered after the drive to get here. The poly Cyberdyne makes a good sloper in light air.
Tuesday started out with a very light wind so the family and I went on a whale-watching trip on the Portuguese Princess. We saw a couple of whales and my daughter, Sydney, loved it! One of the whales was a Finback and was about 60 foot long. It made several passes close to the boat. We also spent some time sluffing around Provincetown.
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These are locations we have had the privilege to fly. Some may have access restrictions.
Check with local flyers for information.
Massachusetts Slope Flying Sites
Petersburg Pass Slope Site (NY/MA border)
(OK, so technically it is in New York, but only .2 miles!)
LOCATION: Park in a gravel parking lot at the south side of State Route 2 in Petersburg, NY about 1/4 mile east of the NY/MA border. The flying site is 200 feet up a gravel trail to the south.