This guided walking tour with Peter Anastas and Mark Carlotto is full, we cannot accept further reservations.

The tour will take place rain or shine.

Our tour begins at the Dogtown Common parking lot at 3:00 p.m. We will walk along Dogtown Road past abandoned cellar holes and stone walls dating back to colonial times to Granny Day’s Swamp – one of several places where it is believed Henry David Thoreau and his guide John Russell might have stopped for tea on a September afternoon in 1858. There we will stop and discuss Thoreau’s visit to Cape Ann and have a cup of tea in his memory.

The tour will last 1 1/2 hours and will be on moderate terrain. Rain or shine. 

Plan to arrive ten minutes early to get situated and ready to go. We’ll have water and bug spray. Wear appropriate footwear. 

Directions: From Route 128 in Gloucester, drive to the Grant Circle Rotary. The Grant Circle has a view of the marsh and businesses (Friendly’s Restaurant) adjacent to it and the large Welcome to Gloucester sign. Watch the signs and take the exit toward Lanesville, Route 127, then take an immediate right onto Poplar Street. Drive a short distance, then turn left onto Cherry Street, up a steep winding hill to a flat area, then continue about 1 mile and watch for a sign on the right – Essex National Heritage Area Dogtown Common – and turn right up a hill to the Dogtown Road parking area. There will be Museum representatives on hand to show you where to park.

This program is offered as part of A Weekend with Thoreau – a collaboration between the Sawyer Free Library, Cape Ann Museum and Gloucester Writers Center celebrating the bicentennial of Henry David Thoreau’s birth. For more citywide events and information visit www.sawyerfreelibrary.org.

A Weekend with Thoreau

A schedule of events and additional information is available at sawyerfreelibrary.org.