| Freetown-Fall River State Forest | |
| Map: | USA Massachusetts#USA |
| Map Size: | 280 |
| Location: | Freetown, Fall River, Lakeville, Bristol, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates: | 41.7578°N -71.0633°W |
| Area Acre: | 5217 |
| Elevation: | 207feet |
| Established: | 1913 |
| Operator: | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation |
| Website: | Freetown-Fall River State Forest |
The Freetown-Fall River State Forest (commonly shortened to Freetown State Forest) is a publicly owned forest covering more than in the city of Fall River and the towns of Freetown and Lakeville in the state of Massachusetts. The forest lies mostly in the center of the town of Freetown (about a third of the town) dividing Assonet, East Freetown, and Fall River's northernmost boundary. The forest land includes Profile Rock, a granite outcropping which local Native Americans believe to be the image of Chief Massasoit, and a 227acres Wampanoag reservation. The forest is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation with headquarters in Assonet.
The state first acquired land in Assonet for forest purposes in 1913, purchasing approximately nine acres on Forge Pond from Levi Churchill of Berkley.[1] The majority of the land was acquired over twenty years beginning in the 1930s. Recent additions to the forest have included 87 acres (2012), 29 acres (2015), and 77 acres (2015) in Assonet and 613 acres (2015) in Lakeville.[2]
The Civilian Conservation Corps worked on the property from 1935 to 1937. On September 28, 2002, National Public Lands Day, a statue was dedicated in honor of the program and its efforts in the forest.[3]
The forest has more than of unpaved roads and trails for walking, hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, dog sledding, off-road vehicle, and equestrian use. A picnic area with wading pool, playing fields and restrooms is located near the main entrance. Rattlesnake Brook is stocked with brook trout in spring. Hunting is available on a restricted basis.
The forest is home to the annual "Fun Day in the Forest" event sponsored by the Friends of the Freetown-Fall River State Forest. For a number of years, it also served as the course for the Big Bang Mountain Bike Race, a benefit event for the Independence Day events in Freetown.
In November 1978, the body of Mary Lou Arruda, a 15-year-old cheerleader abducted from Raynham, Massachusetts that September, was discovered tied to a tree in the state forest. James M. Kater of Brockton, previously convicted of kidnapping in 1967, was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Arruda in 1979.[7] The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned the verdict, and he was convicted again in 1986. The verdict once again overturned; he was retried in 1992, with that attempt ending in a mistrial.
In 1980, while investigating another local murder, police had been approached by individuals who claimed to have witnessed Satanic cult activity within the state forest.[8] These reports would have bearing on the fourth Kater trial (1996–2000) which ended with the conviction upheld.[9] In the 1996 trial, the defense charged that police had withheld information relating to the alleged Satanic cult activity, which it claimed could have provided an alternative to Kater.[10]
Three more murders were subsequently related to the state forest. In 1987, a transient drifter mistaken for an undercover police officer was murdered in the forest,[11] and in 2001, two men were found shot to death on Bell Rock Road, which runs through the forest connecting Assonet and Fall River.[12] Two assaults were also reported: a Fall River man in 1991[13] and a teenager from New Bedford in 1998.[14]
Other incidents include hazardous waste dumping (1996),[15] reports of aggressive abandoned dogs (2006),[16] and reports of an escaped emu wandering the forest (2006).[17] In May 2015, a woman slid 80 feet down a cliff while spray-painting graffiti, broke her ankle, and had to be rescued.[18] In January 2016, an illegally dumped boat was discovered.[19] In May 2016, wire cables were found stretched across the recreational trails, apparently intended to cause harm to off-road motorbike riders.[20]