Location: Big and Little Quanset Pond are reached at the very end of Quanset Road off of Route 28 in South Orleans.
Access: There is a public Town Landing on Big Quanset Pond where boats and kayaks can be launched into Pleasant Bay. Vehicles can be parked on the ramp itself. A Town mooring field is in Big Quanset. A private residential neighborhood of approximately 50 homes, Quanset Harbor Club (QHC) and other private homes owns much of the beach frontage on Big Quanset Pond. The association maintains a private dock and secluded walking trails for its members, as well as a mooring field just outside of Quanset Pond in Pleasant Bay.
Description: The two Ponds are small, fragile saltwater inlets located on the north side of Pleasant Bay in South Orleans, MA. The two ponds are connected by a short tidal inlet which is almost dry at low tides. Fresh water from Meadow Bog Pond enters Little Quanset pond at all but extreme high tide, through a culvert under Quanset Road.
Recreational Activities: There is easy access to Pleasant Bay from the Town Landing and it is a convenient kayak launch for paddles to Sipson, Little Sipson and Strong Islands. Nearby hiking trails are owned and managed by the Orleans Conservation Trust (OCT), and include the Three Ponds Trail (at 135 Quanset Road), with trails around Twinning’s, Meadow Bog and Sarah’s Ponds. Sarah’s Pond is reached by OCT hiking trail. Twinings Pond is located just west of Quanset Road, north of Quanset Pond in a 31-acre conservation area offering a 1-mile loop trail popular for birding and fishing. Meadow Bog Pond, situated east of Quanset Road, is a small 2.6-acre pond that can be viewed from the road or Orleans Conservation Trust walking trails. It is shallow and is listed as “impaired water quality” by the Cape Cod Commission. There have been Cyanobacteria blooms in this pond.
Fishing and Shell fishing: Big Quanset in particular is five to ten feet deep in places and is visited by juvenile “snapper” Striped Bluefish and especially bunker (Atlantic Menhaden). Shell fishing is allowed in season with a Family shellfish permit from the Town of Orleans. Because of it’s proximity to Pleasant Bay, the water quality in Big Quanset has probably held up better than other saltwater ponds further upstream in Pleasant Bay. The area is part of a delicate ecosystem featuring fresh and saltwater ponds, native grass, and woodland areas that support various bird species and wildlife. Otters, osprey, bald eagles, blue herons and many species of duck can frequently be seen.
Interesting Facts: A large glacial bolder, still easily visible to the west of the Town Landing, was known to Native people who called it “Popmonyschat”; it has been used as a boundary marker and landmark for centuries.
This area was named for a Native American chief, Quequequansett, head of the Potonumecot reservation in South Orleans, who lived in the area in the 1680 and left a will dated 1715 in which he bequeathed the surrounding land to his sons.
Adjacent to the town landing is a boat house that is visible on photographs and maps of the area in the early 1900. It is said to be the oldest boat house on Pleasant Bay and will soon be under restoration.