A Fantastic, Flatter Adventure: Halibut Point State Park

One of many amazing sunset views on along the coastline

Not every adventure has to be a treacherous climb to soaring heights to have a wonderful day outdoors with magical views. Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, MA was the complete opposite of those long mountain treks, yet it still provided nice trails, interesting history, and spectacular views.

A couple weekends ago, my wife and I wanted to get out along the seacoast, so we set out to Halibut Point for some easy exploring and to satisfy my wife's shelling addiction (mission accomplished, haha!). The park is set around an old quarry that's been out of use since the 1920's. When we arrived, the quarry was now serving as a nice home for several dozen seagulls gliding along the coast.

Seagulls resting in the old quarry

There was a great brochure at the kiosk in the main parking area that provided a wealth of information on the interpretive trail that went around the quarry. We started with that stroll to learn a little more of what used to go on here. The brochure went into just enough detail about the entire process of quarrying the granite on site to make what would be a quick, simple loop a little more interesting.

Clouds stretching as far as you could see along one of the seaside trails

From there we strolled along one of the trails closer to the seashore, enjoying the views that stretched all the way to the Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire and Mt. Agamenticus in Maine. The sky was absolutely unbelievable that day, with clouds spreading in magical formations in all directions. We knew it was going to come together to be a pretty fantastic sunset, so my wife made sure she went shelling long enough (not a hard task to achieve) for us to check it out.

Panoramic view of quarry along interpretive trail

We caught our first glimpses of how awesome the early evening would be as we circled back around the interpretive trail to head towards The Rocks, a stretch of flat rock slabs stretching out into the ocean that would provide a perfect spot to take in the sunset views. The early array of colors made the quarry seem like a vast moat guarding the fire control tower turned visitor center sitting above it. We were more than ready to catch more views from right along the shoreline.

As usual, words can't do justice to the sky we saw, so I will wrap this post up with a few pictures from that magical sunset. This park was a major surprise in how fun it was to explore both around the quarry and along the shoreline. Even without the added bonus of a marvelous sunset, I would still recommend this park to anyone who enjoys getting out by the ocean. I know my wife and I will be back for future relaxing days.