Lake Saltonstall - Plug Pond

Home
Lake Saltonstall - Plug Pond

Call Directions Website

A lovely place for residents of Haverhill to beat the summer heat. This is a swim-at-your-own-risk lake. Swimming is allowed only when ambassadors are on duty.

Please note that the ambassadors are not lifeguards. Lake Saltonstall is located in the lovely Haverhill Highland community providing for year round activities such as fishing, sailing, swimming, hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Lake Saltonstall is spring feed lake. It was first called "Ayers Lake" by the original settlers in the area that owned the land. It's also nicknamed Plug Pond which is in reference to a dam at its southern point which its surplus water was drawn to supply the mills on the brook connecting it with the Merrimack river. The stream was called " Mill Brook", and the lake was plugged up in the evening and opened in the morning to supply the water to run the mills. Lake Saltonstall is a favorite recreation spot. Activities for Haverhill Residents only, during the summer months include a swimming area, municipal boating program, picnicking and bathroom facilities. It is also a state-stocked fishing area which is open to residents, as well as non-residents, year round. The lake is on 50.8 acres of Conservation land that goes from Winnekenni Castle and Lake Saltonstall. For information pertaining to Boating and Fishing Programs, contact the Recreation Department at 978-374-2389.

25/08/2025

That's a wrap for swimming this year! The beach area of the lake is now closed. Police take notice. Fishing is allowed outside the fenced in area. See you next summer!

24/06/2025

https://haverhillrec.activityreg.com/clientpage_t2.wcs

Parks & Recreation Software from Peak Software

01/09/2023

https://www.eagletribune.com/community/plug-pond-play-area-flooding-resolved-with-new-drainage-system/article_97ed1100-47fa-11ee-b13c-9f0ade2c0f84.html

HAVERHILL — The children’s playground and play structure the city installed at the Plug Pond Recreational Area last year has seen much use since then but few problems.

27/01/2022

17/11/2020

https://www.eagletribune.com/news/haverhill/400k-to-improve-haverhills-plug-pond/article_a7746402-8158-551e-8dcb-30717a288f1b.html

HAVERHILL — When you think of Plug Pond, hot summer days come to mind — families beating the heat by splashing in the water and enjoying picnics under shade trees.

14/06/2016

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/haverhill/tons-of-sand-dumped-to-expand-beach-at-haverhill-s/article_71f247b8-7706-5db7-ac69-6e143154c47b.html

HAVERHILL — With the warm weather arriving, locals are itching to hit the water at Haverhill's only public beach.

22/09/2011

In Haverhill today, one of the most beautiful natural features is Lake Saltonstall, named to honor Nathaniel Saltonstall, a grandson of the Arbella-sailing Sir Richard Saltonstall. Nathaniel was appointed a Salem witchcraft judge here in Salem in 1692, but disliked the whole affair so completely, he quit his position early and kept a clear conscience.
The 45-acre Lake Saltonstall on the north side of the Merrimac River can be accessed from Haverhill’s Mill Street and Sanders Road. A natural “Great Pond” as well as valuable fishing and recreation resource, it has also been called Ayer Lake and Plug Pond at various times. The pond is said to have been called Plug Pond because its waters were routinely plugged or controlled to regulate the water power of Haverhill’s mills. For a fishing and topo map of Lake Saltonstall, visit mass.gov and search for “Dfwsalto.”
Since September, 1989, the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness (MCNAA) has been holding fantastic annual Native American pow-wows on the southeast shore of Plug Pond.
Read more: Preservation Perspective: Salem’s (and Haverhill’s) Saltonstalls - Salem, Massachusetts - Salem Gazette http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/archive/x1069105554/Preservation-Perspective-Salem-s-and-Haverhill-s-Saltonstalls

We Salemites are proud of our Saltonstalls. Beginning in 1630, the Saltonstalls were among Salem’s first English colonists. Upon the Massachusetts Bay Colony “Charter Ship” Arbella they sailed to Roger Conant’s and Gov. John Endicott’s early Salem. The Arbella with the Winthrops, Dudleys and Salto...

Address

Opening Hours

Monday	12:00 - 19:00
Tuesday	12:00 - 19:00
Wednesday	12:00 - 19:00
Thursday	12:00 - 19:00
Friday	12:00 - 19:00
Saturday	12:00 - 19:00
Sunday	12:00 - 19:00

Telephone

(978) 374-2389

Website