FROM POINTS NORTH:

Follow Route 3 South into Massachusetts. Take exit 32 off of Route 3 at North Chelmsford. You will immediately be on a rotary.  Well it was a rotary a few years ago.  Now it's some hack of a traffic design that only a Bostonian could love.  Basically, you want to straight off the exit, get to your left so that you can make a left to cross back over Rt 3 and head straight onto Drum Hill Road.  Two or three orbits of this interchange should be all you need to master these directions.  You're on Drum Hill Road when you see paradise - a Starbucks on the left and a Dunkin Donuts on the right among other strip mall tenants.  Follow this road straight through two sets of lights.  At your third set of lights bear left through the fork (green arrow for left).   Follow straight through two more sets of lights (Market Basket on left and White Hen Pantry on your right). This will put you on the Rourke bridge which passes over the Merrimack river. Take a right off of the bridge.  The boathouse is 200 meters down on the right.

FROM POINTS SOUTH or WEST:

Follow either I-495 North or 128 North (i.e., I-95 N). Take to Route 3 North. Take exit 32 off of Route 3 at Rt.4 in Chelmsford.  Take your first right at the stop at the top of the exit.   Follow that straight through two sets of lights. At your third set of lights bear left through the fork.  Follow this road straight through two sets of lights.  At your third set of lights bear left through the fork (green arrow for left).   Follow straight through two more sets of lights (Market Basket on left and White Hen Pantry on your right). This will put you on the Rourke bridge which passes over the Merrimack river. Take a right off of the bridge.  The boathouse is 200 meters down on the right.

FROM POINTS EAST:

If you coming from northeast MA, Portsmouth NH, or coming down 95 from Maine, take 95 South to 495 South.  Take to Route 3 North. Take exit 32 off of Route 3 at Rt.4 in Chelmsford.  Take your first right at the stop at the top of the exit.   Follow that straight through two sets of lights. At your third set of lights bear left through the fork.  Follow this road straight through two sets of lights.  At your third set of lights bear left through the fork (green arrow for left).   Follow straight through two more sets of lights (Market Basket on left and White Hen Pantry on your right). This will put you on the Rourke bridge which passes over the Merrimack river. Take a right off of the bridge.  The boathouse is 200 meters down on the right.

>> google interactive map

>> google interactive map

>> google interactive map

Parking at the Regatta

There is AMPLE and NEARBY parking for the Festival Regatta.  Do not worry.

The eastbound side of Pawtucket Boulevard will be closed on race day. Bus and vehicle parking will be available across the street from the boathouse and in the soccer field across the street to the east of the boathouse.

Trailer parking will be available in the boathouse parking lot or in the BREAKDOWN LANE to both the east and the west of the boathouse. There will be no trailer parking from the boathouse entrance to approximately 200 yards past the boathouse.  This should be obvious because this is a stretch of the boulevard centered on the boathouse that is in heavy use throughout the day by pedestrians, vendors, and oarpeeps carrying boats on their heads.

Trailers also may NOT park across the street in the parking lot or in the soccer field per the Lowell Police Department.

Look at the map on page 2 of the Regatta Packet for additional information.  Above all, obey traffic officers and orange cones that will be on the boulevard on race day.

Area Accommodations

LOWELL, MA
Doubletree Hotel
Courtyard by Marriott

CHELMSFORD, MA
Radisson Chelmsford
Hawthorne Suites Chelmsford

WESTFORD, MA
Westford Regency

SPECIAL FESTIVAL REGATTA RATES:

(This is 2010 information - don't assume that prices are the same, but it gives you a hint that there might be discounts for regattas at these hotels.)