TRAILS FOR EVERYONE IN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
DESIGNED BY
v.1–Nov 2018 WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE
Cross a Bridge Find Yourself Take in Gather in Celebrate the View a Circle Art on the Land
Go for a Watch Take Play in Admire Walk or Jog Wildlife Photographs the Stream Farmland
Welcome Home Build Cairns Ski & Snowshoe Spy Butterflies Sit a Spell Kestrels and Insects
Share a Picnic Bring Your Dog Visit Wetlands Identify Tracks Sniff Wildflowers NORTHAMPTON, MASS
BROAD BROOK — FITZGERALD LAKE MINERAL HILLS SAW MILL HILLS — ROBERTS HILL HADLEY, MASS
HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE DYER SILVIO CONTE AMHERST, MASS
EASTMAN BROOK LAWRENCE SWAMP MT. POLLUX PODICK & KATHERINE COLE PUFFER’S POND & MILL RIVER SWEET ALICE WENTWORTH FARM AMETHYST BROOK PELHAM, MASS
PEMBERTON & BUTTER HILL WELL AWAY FARM & HARKNESS BELCHERTOWN, MASS
HOLLAND GLEN JABISH BROOK SCARBOROUGH BROOK MEAD’S CORNER PRIVATE LAND
BROAD BROOK - FITZGERALD LAKE GREENWAY City of Northampton BROAD BROOK – FITZGERALD LAKE GREENWAY
NORTHAMPTON, MASS Take in the view
DISTANCE: 2.7 MILES
Split rock
Suggested Route Other Trails Streams & rivers
Blue blaze Red blaze
Bridge SHELBURNE Bench BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL
Watch Boardwalk WENDELL birds MONTAGUE ASHFIELD PLAINFIELD Parking
WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON
NORTH FARMS RD.
PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON LOCATOR NEW SALEM
HATFIELD WILLIAMS- BURG
HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD PRIVATE LAND NORTH 0 500 FT NORTHAMPTON
CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT BROAD BROOK – FITZGERALD LAKE GREENWAY NORTHAMPTON, MASS
Here you will find one of the most ecologically rich areas WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE of Northampton, consisting of nearly 300 acres of rocky woodlands, extensive wetlands, and abandoned fields. Drawing people and wildlife alike to its prominent feature —the lake—this public space includes an Walk/Jog Take Photographs Take in the View Watch Wildlife XC Ski / Snowshoe accessible paved path, wooden bridge, and boardwalk, that leads through a marsh to a canoe launch. DIRECTIONS PARTNERS MAKE CONSERVATION POSSIBLE • GPS address: 95 North Farms Rd., SUGGESTED ROUTE Northampton, MA Kestrel Land Trust partners with the City and friends groups to create, conserve, • Parking is available in a small lot Enter the woods on the accessible trail, noticing the bench where you can sit on with a kiosk on North Farms Road and care for public lands to help everyone your return to ponder the wonders of this natural space. Soon you take a right onto connect with nature. The conservation a boardwalk that passes through marshland and juts into the lake. Take in the view, lands here are owned by the City and launch a canoe, or watch birds from the boardwalk’s dock. A bench here also provides WHAT TO LOOK FOR portions are monitored by Kestrel through a peaceful place to sit. Returning to the trail, go right over the bridge. Bear right a Conservation Restriction. Broad Brook and follow a short loop trail to the water’s edge and back to the main trail. At the • Boardwalk with canoe launch Coalition maintains the trails and habitat. intersection follow the blue-blazed trail to the right (a red-blazed trail leads left). Then For more information contact Kestrel or: • Earthen dam with a sunset view turn right on a trail that brings you to the lakeside. Look for ducks, otter, and beaver. Return to the main trail and turn right. As you pass through a rocky outcropping, notice Broad Brook Coalition the split rock. Continuing through the wooded terrain, bear right at a sharp intersection [email protected] and follow the lakeside trail to the earthen dam. A footpath across the top of the dam’s YOU SHOULD KNOW short embankment provides an open view westward across the lake. Retrace your City of Northampton steps back to the intersection and follow the upper loop, a red-blazed hillside trail, that • Open dawn to dusk, year round Office of Planning and Sustainability: meanders up and down through the woods. At the intersection, turn right and retrace • Please keep dogs on leash and [email protected] your steps to the bridge and bench you passed on the way in. pick up after your pet • Respect adjacent private property by staying on the trail www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 PRIVATE CONSERVATION LAND
NORTH 0 500 FT Rock wall
Suggested route
Large birch tree Other trails
Streams & rivers
MINERAL
HILLS Rock with CONSERVATION a view AREA MINERAL HILLS NORTHAMPTON, MASS CONSERVATION AREA City of Northampton DISTANCE: 2 MILES
Barbed wire/ maple tree
Boardwalks Quarry lookout
SHELBURNE BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL
WENDELL MONTAGUE ASHFIELD Quarry PLAINFIELD edge
WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON
PERU PETERSHAM Parking WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM
T UR K E Y LOCATOR H IL L R D . NORTHAMPTON HARDWICK MIDDLE FIELD PRIVATE LAND
CHESTER WESTHAMPTON WARE
SOUTHAMPTON EAST- HAMPTON
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT MINERAL HILLS CONSERVATION AREA NORTHAMPTON, MASS
Fifteen minutes from downtown Northampton exists WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE a special place that seems a world apart from the nearby bustling cultural center. The Mineral Hills is a hilly forest with dramatic ridge-top views, wetlands, beaver ponds, and an abandoned rock quarry. Walk/Jog Take in the View Watch Wildlife XC Ski / Snowshoe
SUGGESTED ROUTE DIRECTIONS PARTNERS MAKE CONSERVATION POSSIBLE There is an extensive trail system here marked by signs and numbered intersection • GPS address: 398 Turkey Hill Rd., thanks to the Friends of the Mineral Hills. To begin, go a short distance on the Northampton, MA 01062 Kestrel Land Trust partners with entrance path to the first intersection (#111), and turn right onto Big Meadow Trail. • Parking is available at the end the City and friends groups to create, At the next intersection (#114), keep right and pass by a meadow on the right. At the of Turkey Hill Road marked by a conserve, and care for public lands next intersection (#107) take a sharp right onto Kohl Trail. Note the large old maple Mineral Hills Conservation Area sign to help everyone connect with nature. tree on the right with bark growing around rusty barbed wire, a sign of historic The conservation lands here are owned pasturing. Pass by rock outcroppings on the right, and cross a series of boardwalks. by the City and portions are monitored At the next intersection (#108), go left at The Chute. At the top of the hill, take a WHAT TO LOOK FOR by Kestrel through a Conservation breather at a large round rock with a view a bit beyond the trail junction (#104). Restriction. Friends of Mineral Returning to intersection #104, proceed on Ravine Trail. At intersection (#105) go • Abandoned rock quarry with view Hills maintains the trails. For more left on Creek Bed Trail. Look for a large black birch on the left as you make your way of Mount Holyoke information contact Kestrel or: downhill (before the trail bends left with the creek on your right). Follow the blue- City of Northampton blazed trail over the narrow creek as you continue gently descending. At intersection YOU SHOULD KNOW (#106), go right “To Old Quarry” and then right again at intersection (#113) onto Office of Planning and Sustainability: Quarry Loop Trail. Soon a side trail on your left leads to an opening overlooking the [email protected] • Open dawn to dusk, rock quarry. From here, on a clear day, you can see the Mount Holyoke summit year round Friends of Mineral Hills house. Return to the trail and follow it left along the quarry rim It soon opens up [email protected] and you can stand on the quarry edge looking down where water now pools. Bear • Please keep dogs on leash right away from the quarry, go through the intersection, continue following the blue and pick up after your pet blazes, and bear right until you come to intersection #111 (where you began). • Respect adjacent private property by staying on the trail www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 PRIVATE LAND
SAW MILL HILLS CONSERVATION AREA —ROBERTS HILL NORTHAMPTON, MASS
RESERVOIR RD. Blue blaze DISTANCE: 2 MILES
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POWER LINE CORRIDOR
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SAW MILL HILLS Hemlock grove CONSERVATION AREA City of Northampton Orange blaze
SHELBURNE Green BUCKLAND ERV blaze HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY Orange ATHOL blaze WENDELL MONTAGUE Green ASHFIELD blaze PLAINFIELDRock outcropping
WINDSOR
Old CUMMINGTON foundation
PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM LOCATOR
WILLIAMSBURG HATFIELD
PRIVATE LAND
HARDWICK MIDDLE NORTHAMPTON FIELD
NORTH 0 500 FT CHESTER WESTHAMPTON WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT SAW MILL HILLS CONSERVATION AREA —ROBERTS HILL NORTHAMPTON, MASS WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE The Roberts Hill section of Saw Mill Hills has a large network of trails used by hikers and mountain bikers alike. This northern most parcel of Roberts Hill has a multi-colored trail network. A highlight here is a westward-facing view from the open hilltop where the blue- and red-blazed trails meet. Walk/Jog Take in the View Watch Wildlife XC Ski / Snowshoe
SUGGESTED ROUTE DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Begin this 2-mile clockwise loop walk by going slightly uphill on the old woods road, which has • GPS address: • Numerous varieties of oak trees historic significance—it was a stagecoach route to Albany in the early 1800s. Continue straight 199 Old Shepherd Rd., onto the orange-blazed trail, which soon overlaps with the blue-blazed trail. Following the orange Leeds, MA 01053 PARTNERS MAKE blazes, the trail takes a sharp right turn leading away from neighboring private property. Bear • Parking is available for CONSERVATION POSSIBLE left at the intersection with a rock outcropping on the right. After passing an old foundation several cars at the dead-end on the right, the trail veers left and downhill, where it crosses the green-blazed trail. This gently of Old Shepard Road (an Kestrel Land Trust partners with the City inclining stretch of the orange-blazed trail is a former power line path where pole stumps can be extension of Water Street) and friends groups to create, conserve, seen in the shrubbery. For a long stretch, the trail passes through stands of young trees. Roberts and care for public lands to help everyone Meadow Pond begins to come into view below (especially during the fall and winter months). A connect with nature. The conservation mossy rock to the right of a hemlock tree provides a look out point. Continue on this section of YOU SHOULD KNOW lands here are owned by the City, and trail through new growth forest until you reach a rock-strewn intersection where the red-blazed portions are monitored by Kestrel through trail comes in. Follow orange-red blazes for a short distance until the orange trail dips sharply • Open dawn to dusk, a Conservation Restriction. The Leeds to the left. Now, on the red-blazed trail, a gentle ascent begins. Pass a rock wall on the right as year round Civic Association and the Friends of the trail hugs the hillside with the pond more visible below. Turning away from the pond, the • Please keep dogs on leash Saw Mill Hills help maintain the trail. For trail slowly sweeps right and up to join the blue-blazed trail. Go right and follow the blue blazes and pick up after your pet more information contact Kestrel or: noting the shrubby understory. The trail gets a bit steeper until you reach the top of Roberts Hill • Respect adjacent where a rocky lookout provides impressive views to the west. Return to the blue-blazed trail, private property by City of Northampton which begins to descend. Look for numerous oak species, including chestnut, red, white, black, staying on the trail Office of Planning and and scarlet. Pass through a peaceful hemlock grove, then turn left at the intersection with the Sustainability: green-blazed trail. Stay to the left, following the green blazes. The Mill River is ahead and below [email protected] as you turn left and return to the orange blazed trail back to the trailhead. www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 PRIVATE LAND
Opening next to a small pool HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE CONSERVATION LAND HADLEY, MASS
DISTANCE: 1 MILE Double- trunked white pine Field
Suggested Route Rock out- cropping Other Trails Stand of PRIVATE CONSERVATION LAND young Hampshire College Wooden SHELBURNE birches footbridge BUCKLAND ERV Streams & rivers HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL
WENDELL MONTAGUE ASHFIELD PLAINFIELD Edge of two WINDSOR habitats CUMMINGTON
PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM
LOCATOR CHMURA RD. PRIVATE LAND AMHERST Cul-de-sac parking area MOUNT HOLYOKE HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD RANGE STATE PARK
HADLEY N’TON
CHESTER NORTH 0 500 FT GRANBY WARE
SOUTH
HADLEY
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE CONSERVATION LAND HADLEY, MASS
Nestled at the base of the Mount Holyoke Range, WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE this 46-acre protected forest is owned by Hampshire College and the trails are open for the public to enjoy.
SUGGESTED ROUTE Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife XC Ski / Snowshoe Take Photographs
Begin this 1-mile loop walk at the northeast end (upper left corner) of the cul-de- sac parking area where the trail leads into the woods. The old woods road follows a flat terrain. (Faded yellow blazes can occasionally be detected on trees and rocks DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR on the trail.) Proceed forward at the intersection where “college trail” leads uphill and to the right (indicated by a small sign on a tree); on the left is a “Mt. Holyoke • GPS Address: 100 Chmura Rd., • Signs of early successional habitats Range Location #143” sign posted on a tree. Continuing on the woods road,. Hadley, MA 01035 bear right at the fork. Soon the trail tapers to a footpath and goes uphill where • Parking is available in the cul-de-sac a double-trunked white pine stands on the right. The trail declines gently and at the dead end of Chmura Road crosses a small creek. Go straight and soon come to an intersection where a “Mt. PARTNERS MAKE located 1 mile off Route 47 Holyoke Range Location #144” sign is posted. Before taking a sharp right, pause CONSERVATION POSSIBLE to view the opening ahead where a side trail leads to picnic tables by a small pool of water. As you take the sharp right turn and go up a short hill, the woods open up Kestrel Land Trust partners with landowners into a field. Notice the sumac stand and a wooded hill in the distance. Follow the YOU SHOULD KNOW to create, conserve, and care for lands with footpath across the field. Before re-entering the woods you will see a young birch public access to help everyone connect stand; pause at the edge of these two habitats. Proceed uphill, and go right at • Open dawn to dusk, year round with nature. The conservation lands here the T-intersection. Ahead you come to the creek; cross over it on a small wooden • Please keep dogs on leash and are owned by Hampshire College and footbridge. Follow the meandering trail through the woods, and take a break to sit pick up after your pet permanently conserved with a Conservation Restriction monitored by Kestrel. at a rough rock outcropping. Bear right where a side trail goes up to the left. You • Respect adjacent private For more information, will pass several ecological restoration signs before returning to the woods road property by staying on the trail where you began. Bear left and before long you are back at the parking area. contact Kestrel or:
Hampshire College: 413-559-6100 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS Road and trail to summit 600 ft.
MT . W AR NE R R OAD Wooden bridge Larch DYER CONSERVATION AREA trees HADLEY, MASS
PRIVATE LAND DISTANCE: 1.4 MILES ROUND TRIP
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CUMMINGTON Play in the stream LOCATOR PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM
Maple tree PRIVATE PRIVATE LAND AMHERST PROTECTED Parking Left at HATFIELD the sign FARMLAND
PRIVATE HADLEY HARDWICK PROTECTED MIDDLE FIELD N’TON FARMLAND NORTH 0 500 FT
CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT DYER CONSERVATION AREA HADLEY, MASS
This 35-acre property was once part of the Forty Acres WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE Farm associated with the Porter Phelps Huntington family, who helped settle North Hadley and built their homestead in 1752. Nearby Mount Warner Reservation is a 156-acre forested area protected in the 1980s by the Massachusetts Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Identify Tracks Build a Cairn Play in the Brook Department of Conservation & Recreation with assistance from Kestrel Land Trust, and is now owned by The Trustees of Reservations. The .7-mile Dyer Trail goes through a DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR mixture of field, forest, and wetland habitat, leading to • GPS Address: • Hemlock grove along stream Mount Warner Road and its trails. 123 River Dr., • Larch trees Hadley, MA 01035 SUGGESTED ROUTE • Parking is available on the east- PARTNERS MAKE side shoulder of Route 47 at CONSERVATION POSSIBLE This 1.4-mile out-and-back walk begins on Route 47 (the Connecticut River Scenic Byway), the entrance to a field where a opposite the Porter Phelps Huntington Museum. The trail runs along the right side of the field Kestrel Land Trust sign is posted. Kestrel Land Trust partners with other to the far right (east) corner. The trail goes right through a short shrubby wetland area where Pull off the road fully onto the organizations to create, conserve, and you pass a multi-trunked maple tree on the left and a “stay on the trail” sign. Turn left here, grassy area next to the sign. care for lands to help everyone connect proceeding through a red maple swamp with a thin line of trees along the border of a field on with nature. The conservation lands your right. Continue into the woods, and soon you come to a stream where you can build a cairn, here are owned by Kestrel and Porter dip your feet, and look for animal tracks. The stream remains on your right as the trail follows a YOU SHOULD KNOW Phelps Huntington Museum with a woody hillside on the left. Another “stay on the trail” sign is posted at a trail junction. Take the Conservation Restriction monitored right fork, which soon veers to the left of the hill as the trail ascends. As you proceed, notice • Open dawn to dusk, by The Nature Conservancy. For more the hemlocks shading the opposite bank of the stream. Follow the trail to the right. It continues year round information contact Kestrel or: through a flat, brambly stretch. You cross a wooden bridge and soon come to a few larch trees • Please keep dogs on leash (deciduous trees with needles that turn bright yellow then drop in autumn). Go slightly uphill The Nature and pick up after your pet and the trail ends at Mt. Warner Road where a sign indicates, “trail to summit 600 ft.” You can Conservancy: proceed on the road to Mt. Warner’s trail system, or turn around and retrace your steps .7 mile • Respect adjacent private 413-584-2532 back to where you began on Route 47. property by staying on the trail Porter Phelps Huntington Museum 413-584-4699 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 Lookout
Lookout Lookout PRIVATE LAND Lookout
Lookout USFWS CONTE REFUGE FORT RIVER DIVISION Lookout
Lookout
Lookout Lookout
Open Fields
SHELBURNE Gazebo BUCKLAND ERV THE SILVIO O. CONTE HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL NATIONAL FISH AND Parking & kiosk WENDELL MONTAGUE WILDLIFE REFUGE ASHFIELD
BARN PLAINFIELD HADLEY, MASS WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON DISTANCE: 1.1 MILES
PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM LOCATOR
Suggested Route Streams & rivers
AMHERST RD. RIDGE DY B HATFIELD MOO HADLEY HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD N’TON NORTH 0 500 FT PRIVATE USFWS CONTE REFUGE PROTECTED PRIVATE LAND FARMLAND CHESTER GRANBY WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT THE SILVIO O. CONTE NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE REFUGE HADLEY, MASS WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE The Fort River Birding and Nature Trail at the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is a universally accessible 1.1-mile loop trail. Meandering through 260 acres of diverse habitat—grassland, floodplain, upland forest, wetlands, and intermittent streams—it was recognized as the best trail under Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Sit a Spell Take Photographs Enjoy Vernal Pools 3 miles in Massachusetts. The trail is constructed of stone dust with wooden edging, and includes eight elevated boardwalks DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR and seven scenic viewing decks with benches. A gazebo at • GPS address: • Seven scenic lookouts the entrance provides a shaded rest before or after walking. 63 Moody Bridge Rd., with benches Families with strollers, seniors, and those using wheelchairs or Hadley, MA 10135 • Kestrel nest boxes walkers also enjoy this trail. • Parking is available down the gravel road, keep right PARTNERS MAKE at the fork and the parking CONSERVATION POSSIBLE SUGGESTED ROUTE lot will be on the left. There is a kiosk that provides Kestrel Land Trust partners with the Begin your walk on this flat and easy-to-navigate trail at the gazebo, within sight of the parking area. information about the refuge US Fish and Wildlife Service to create, Beyond the gazebo, the trail soon splits. Stay to the left for a clockwise loop. Go slowly and observe before continuing to the trail. as many habitats as you can along the way. The first lookout is on the right. Notice the young forest conserve, and care for public lands to establishing here. At the next lookout you are perched at a bend in the river. Pause to watch the help everyone connect with nature. The water flow by, and be watchful for wildlife. As you continue along, the next lookout is nestled under a YOU SHOULD KNOW conservation lands were acquired by large oak tree. Further along you come to three lookouts clustered close together, each overlooking a Kestrel with The Conservation Fund and different type of habit – shrubland, wetland, and grassland. After the third, you enter an opening where • Open dawn to dusk, year round the Trust for Public Land for the Conte Refuge. For more information contact the trail is lined with sumac, often found growing at the edge of newly establishing habitats. The trail • Please keep dogs on leash and Kestrel or: crosses the field, re-enters the woods, and then comes to a lookout where wood duck nest boxes can pick up after your pet be seen through the trees across the swamp. The next lookout is at the edge of a field where American • Respect adjacent private Silvio O. Conte National Fish & kestrel nest boxes are located on the far side of this open space. At the final lookout, you’re standing property by staying on the trail Wildlife Refuge above a stretch of wetland. Soon you complete the 1.1-mile loop and are back at the gazebo. 413-548-8002 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018
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DISTANCE: LESS THAN 2 MILES Amherst/Leverett Town Line
Suggested Route Other Trails Streams & rivers LEVERETT RD. EASTMAN BROOK CONSERVATION AREA KESTREL Town of Amherst LAND TRUST Bridge CONSERVATION AREA
Butterflies Take in PRIVATE LAND the view PRIVATE CONSERVED LAND Parking Sit a spell
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TOWN CONSERVATION LAND WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON PELHAM LEVERETT PRIVATE LAND SUNDER- PERU LAND PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM
AMHERST
BELCHER- TOWN
NORTH 0 500 FT
HADLEY HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD
CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT EASTMAN BROOK CONSERVATION AREA AMHERST, MASS
Eastman Brook is home to breathtaking open WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE fields perfect for bird watching and seeing butterflies flutter about. There are gorgeous wetlands and beaver dams as well as a rushing brook with accessible vantage points to view it
Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Spy Butterflies Identify Tracks XC Ski / Snowshoe along the trail. It is a wonderful place to stop by and Insects for a short walk after work, visit for a morning jog, or for an afternoon outing on the long-distance Robert Frost Trail. DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• GPS Address: 280 Leverett Rd., • Beaver dams and wetland views Amherst, MA 01002 SUGGESTED ROUTE • Parking is available on the west side of Leverett Road across This brook-side hike is a little less than two miles long, including the short detour PARTNERS MAKE from house #281 to visit butterflies on Kestrel Land Trust land which was donated by the Wood CONSERVATION POSSIBLE and Cousins families. From the parking area, follow the trail around the left side of the green fence, across two small gravel roads and along the edge of a field. Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to There, you will find a nice place to sit to enjoy some sunshine and birdsong. This YOU SHOULD KNOW create, conserve, and care for public lands trail will then continue into the woods where you will find an intersection, take a to help everyone connect with nature. The right to enjoy butterflies, or a left to continue over the train tracks onto the Robert • Open dawn to dusk, year round conservation lands here are owned by the Town and Kestrel. For more information Frost Trail. Continue straight on the orange-blazed trail through a field perfect for • Please keep dogs on leash and contact Kestrel or: viewing birds or tracks in the snow. When you approach the woods, stay straight pick up after your pet and follow the red-blazed Ellsworth Barnard Trail along the Eastman Brook. Turn • Respect adjacent private Town of Amherst right and cross the bridge, to follow the trail through the entire loop. You will cross property by staying on the trail Department of another bridge before completing the loop and returning to the parking area. Conservation: 413-259-3045 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 SLOBODY FARM CONSERVATION AREA Town of Amherst NORWOTTUCK RAIL TRAIL
STATION RD.
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LAWRENCE SWAMP CONSERVATION AREA Town of Amherst SHELBURNE Identify tracks BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING LAWRENCE FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL
SWAMP WENDELL MONTAGUE k ASHFIELD o o CONSERVATION PLAINFIELD r B Take in e l i g WINDSOR the view a a AREA r i T r r t CUMMINGTON a s C o r y F AMHERST, MASS b t a r B e PERU b PETERSHAM o WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM R DISTANCE: JUST OVER 1 MILE LOCATOR
Hemlock PELHAM stand
Suggested route Other trails HARDWICK Bridge HADLEY AMHERST BELCHERTOWN MIDDLE FIELD
Streams & rivers NORTH 0 500 FT CHESTER GRANBY WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT LAWRENCE SWAMP CONSERVATION AREA AMHERST, MASS
Lawrence Swamp contains extensive WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE forests adjacent to the Norwottuck Rail Trail and protected farmland. The conservation land shown is a small portion of the hiking trail networks and bike paths that create easy access to beautiful and Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Visit Wetlands Admire Farmland XC Ski / Snowshoe quiet walks in the Valley. Bring your family to hike along Baby Carriage Brook and weave through the changing landscape. DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• GPS address: 101 Station Rd., • Lawrence Swamp has an extensive network of SUGGESTED ROUTE Amherst, MA 01002 trails including the Robert Frost Trail and the • Parking is available west of a Norwottuck Rail Trail This clockwise loop is a little over a mile long with plenty of small bridge across Hop Brook • Beautiful brook views opportunities to explore other trail networks including the Robert on Station Road Frost Trail and the Norwottuck Rail Trail. From the parking area, take a short walk west down the road before coming to an PARTNERS MAKE informational kiosk and trail head. Proceed into the woods and YOU SHOULD KNOW CONSERVATION POSSIBLE keep left to follow Jan Dizard Trail. Take a left at the beginning of the loop to follow the trail along Hop Brook. This is a great place • Open dawn to dusk, year round Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, to enjoy the sound of rushing water and look for wetland wildlife. • Please keep dogs on leash and conserve, and care for public lands to help everyone Continue along the red-blazed trail and take a quick detour to pick up after your pet connect with nature. The conservation lands here the left to relax by Baby Carriage Brook on a small bridge. Return are owned by the Town and acquired with assistance • Respect adjacent private to the trail to walk through a Hemlock stand and follow the trail from Kestrel. For more information contact property by staying on the trail around the loop. Stay right to keep on the Jan Dizard Trail. Take Kestrel or: a moment to identify tracks and take in the view one more time before completing the loop and returning to the parking area. Town of Amherst Department of Conservation 413-259-3045 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 S O U T MT. POLLUX H
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T AREA . AMHERST, MASS MT. POLLUX CONSERVATION AREA Town of Amherst DISTANCE: ONLY 500 FEET!
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Parking WENDELL MONTAGUE ASHFIELD PLAINFIELD
PRIVATE LAND WINDSOR CUMMINGTON
PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM
Suggested route LOCATOR
PELHAM Other trails HARDWICK
BELCHERTOWN MIDDLE AMHERST FIELD HADLEY
NORTH 0 500 FT CHESTER GRANBY WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT MT. POLLUX CONSERVATION AREA AMHERST, MASS
Mt. Pollux Conservation Area WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE provides the best view in the Valley for the shortest walk. It is a great place to enjoy 360-degree views of the Mt. Holyoke Range to Spy Butterflies the south, the Berkshires to the Celebrate Art on the Land Share a Picnic Take in the View Take Photographs and Insects west, and Mt. Toby and Brushy
Mt. to the north. Bring a picnic to DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR enjoy the sunset! Or launch a kite on a windy day. • GPS address: 1413 S. East St., • Awesome views of the Mt. Holyoke Amherst, MA 01002 and Mt. Tom Ranges! • Parking is available, but a little hard to find. Look SUGGESTED ROUTE for a driveway and sign that says “Mt. Pollux PARTNERS MAKE Conservation Area” off Southeast Street in CONSERVATION POSSIBLE From the parking area, the walk is uphill through South Amherst, just after Mt. Pollux Drive an apple orchard, but it only takes about 5 Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns and friends minutes. When you are at the peak enjoy the groups to create, conserve, and care for public lands to shade under the mature maple tree. This is a YOU SHOULD KNOW help everyone connect with nature. The conservation great place to bring toddlers for their first hike up lands here are owned by the Town and Kestrel works a mountain! • Open dawn to dusk, year round with the Friends of Mount Pollux to • Please keep dogs on leash and pick up enhance public access. For more after your pet information contact Kestrel or: • Respect adjacent private property by Town of Amherst staying on the trail Department of Conservation www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 413-259-3045 Take in the view PRIVATE LAND
PRIVATE LAND Hadley/Amherst Town Line Town Hadley/Amherst
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CONSERVATION 1
6 AREA ) Town of Amherst Suggested route
Parking Other trails
Streams & rivers Admire farmland
PRIVATE LAND PODICK SHELBURNE BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE AND KATHERINE COLE SAVOY ATHOL CONSERVATION WENDELL MONTAGUE Take in KATHERINEASHFIELD COLE AREAS the view PLAINFIELDCONSERVATION AREA Town of Amherst LOCATOR AMHERST, MASS WINDSOR KESTREL CUMMINGTON LAND Bridge LEVERETT TRUST SUNDER- DISTANCE: PODICK—1.7 MILES LAND PERU LAND PETERSHAM KATHERINE COLE—1.3 MILES WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM AMHERST
NORTH 0 500 FT HATFIELD
HADLEY HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD
CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT PODICK AND KATHERINE COLE CONSERVATION AREAS AMHERST, MASS
Each of these conservation areas contains easily WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE accessed trail networks that provide short but secluded outings. Both are home to a variety of forest types, agricultural landscapes, and wetlands. Be on the lookout for wildlife such as white-tailed deer and barred owls. Walk/Jog Identify Tracks Watch Wildlife XC Ski / Snowshoe
DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR Katherine Cole Conservation Area: Following the yellow blazes south from the parking area, the trail passes by wetlands and rises up into a young stand of pines. After a short walk, the trail crosses power lines and comes to a small bridge, then • GPS address: 390 Sunderland Rd., • Nice view and resting point on the bridge immediately splits. Take a left, following the edge of the conservation land, which Amherst, MA 01002 on Katherine Cole Conservation Area is bordered by a stream. Continue through more wetlands and over a small bridge. • Parking is available at the gate after • Streamside views The trail briefly enters a parcel owned by the Kestrel Land Trust with a view of the pulling off of Route 116 (across from neighboring farmland. The trail loops back and rises into a Hemlock stand before Sunderland Road) PARTNERS MAKE returning to the bridge. Follow the yellow blazes back to the parking area. • Bus: 31 - Sunderland/ South CONSERVATION POSSIBLE Amherst: Waterfield Farms Podick Conservation Area is home to the Noah Webster Trail. Originally a loop, part of the trail is now under water due to beaver activity. For a lovely out-and-back walk, Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, conserve, and care for public lands head north from the parking area toward the end of the small clearing. Look carefully YOU SHOULD KNOW for the red blazes. Follow the trail to the left as it slopes down. Notice wetlands on to help everyone connect with nature. The the left before crossing a power line cut. After a small stream crossing, you come to conservation lands here are owned by the • The trails are very wet or flooded a clearing where the Noah Webster Trail begins (look for a white sign on a large tree). Town and Kestrel. For more information after a rainfall or snow melt Turn right into the woods, and follow the red blazes winding through pine and hemlock contact Kestrel or: • Open dawn to dusk, year round forests. A secluded farm field will be visible on the right. The trail then briefly runs alongside a large brook, then turns left through a beautiful patch of Mountain Laurel. • Please keep dogs on leash and Town of Amherst Department of Soon, the trail enters the wetland area and becomes boggy. Stop here, then turn pick up after your pet Conservation around and follow the red blazes back the way you came. • Respect adjacent private property by staying on the trail 413-259-3045 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 on T acks rail . J .H H Take in the view
PUFFER’S POND CONSERVATION LL RD. PULPIT HI AREA PRIVATE Town of Amherst LAND Swimming area R o M be I PUFFER’S POND r L t L Fr PUFFER’S POND S o s T t . T ra il & MILL RIVER Swimming area CONSERVATION AREAS AMHERST, MASS man Cush Br Boat oo k DISTANCE: 1.7 MILES launch
. il ST ra TE T A r ST SUMMER ST. te Suggested route Other trails s e L s u i l u Streams & rivers J S A UPPER MILL RIVER N CONSERVATION AREA D H Town of Amherst IL L R D Bridge .
LOWER MILL RIVER CONSERVATION AREA SHELBURNE Town of Amherst BUCKLAND GREEN ERV MILL RIVER HAWLEY ING FIELD ORANGE RECREATION SAVOY AREA ATHOL
WENDELL MONTAGUE il PRIVATE LAND ASHFIELD ra T PLAINFIELD r er e v f i i ll R i WINDSOR n M n LOCATOR e J CUMMINGTON
. LEVERETT Bridge ST SUNDER- PERU E IN LAND P PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM STATE ST.
TOWN OF AMHERST PELHAM AMHERST CONSERVATION LAND NORTH 0 500 FT
HADLEY HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD
CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT PUFFER’S POND & MILL RIVER CONSERVATION AREAS AMHERST, MASS
These conservation lands are home to WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE beautiful and practical trails that make it easy to navigate from Puffer’s Pond to the Mill River Recreation Area. This is a great place to spend an afternoon by the pond for a picnic, take a swim, and Walk/Jog Sit a Spell Watch Wildlife Share a Picnic Play in the Water enjoy a walk in the woodlands. DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
SUGGESTED ROUTE • GPS address: 171 State St., • Puffer’s Pond Dam Amherst, MA 01002 Walk east down State Street, past a swimming area on your • Parking is available along State Street left. Turn left down the Robert Frost Trail, in a few feet there is PARTNERS MAKE a pet waste station on your right. In a few hundred feet, there is • Bus: 33 - Puffer’s Pond/ Shopper Shuttle: CONSERVATION POSSIBLE an intersection of the Robert Frost Trail and H.H. Jackson trail, East Pleasant Street / Pine Street follow the H.H. Jackson trail to continue along the pond shore. Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns and The trail ends at a sandy area with steps into the pond; this is friends groups to create, conserve, and care for the second swimming area. Walk up the stairs away from the YOU SHOULD KNOW public lands to help everyone connect with nature. pond to Mill Street and take a left. Enjoy the sound of rushing The conservation lands here are owned by the water and the view of the dam. Then, take a right and follow • Open dawn to dusk, year round Town and Kestrel is the fiscal sponsor for Friends the sign to the red-blazed Julius Lester Trail to the Lower Mill • Swimming is allowed but no lifeguard is of Puffer’s Pond. For more information about the River Conservation Area. Then, follow the trail straight across on duty - swimming is at your own risk conserved lands here, contact Kestrel or: the bridge to Mill River Recreation Area. Or follow the loop • Please keep dogs on leash and pick up Town of Amherst left to head back toward Puffer’s Pond. To return, take the after your pet. Dogs are not allowed on Department of Conservation Julius Lester Trail and take a right onto Mill Street, then, take a the beach or in the pond. left to follow State Street back to the parking area. 413-259-3045 • Respect adjacent private property by staying on the trail Friends of Puffer’s Pond 413-658-4240 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 BAY ROAD Parking
PRIVATE LAND EPSTEIN POND
POWER LINE CORRIDOR
MT. HOLYOKE PRIVATE RANGE LAND STATE Footbridge PARK
CONSERVATION AREA Suggested route
Other trails
Streams & rivers
SWEET ALICE CONSERVATION SHELBURNE
AREA BUCKLAND GREEN ERV HAWLEY POWER LINE CORRIDOR ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY AMHERST, MASS ATHOL S w WENDELL e
e MONTAGUE
t
A ASHFIELDWatch birds
DISTANCE: JUST OVER 1 MILE l i
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B r
WINDSOR
o o k CUMMINGTON SWEET ALICE CONSERVATION AREA Town of Amherst PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM
LOCATOR
MT. HOLYOKE RANGE AMHERST HARDWICK
STATE PARK BELCHERTOWN MIDDLE HADLEY FIELD
Take in the view CHESTER PRIVATE LAND NORTH 0 500 FT WARE GRANBY SOUTH
HADLEY
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT SWEET ALICE CONSERVATION AREA AMHERST, MASS
This town conservation land at the foot WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE of the Mount Holyoke Range is perfect for walking, running, and cross-country skiing. Follow the trails in the Sweet Alice Conservation Area for a short, secluded Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife XC Ski / Snowshoe Spy Butterflies Sniff Wildflowers walk or venture out into the Mount and Insects Holyoke Range State Park for a longer and more rigorous hike. DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
SUGGESTED ROUTE • GPS address: 90 Bay Rd., • Views of the Holyoke Range Amherst, MA 01002 This short counterclockwise loop trail is a little over one mile. From • Parking is available on Bay Road Bay Road, follow the yellow-blazed Sweet Alice Trail away from next to the conservation area PARTNERS MAKE CONSERVATION POSSIBLE the road through the fields, while enjoying the view of the Mount • Bus: 38 - Mount Holyoke / Holyoke Range to the south. The trail continues into the woods Hampshire / Amherst / before crossing a bridge over a small but beautiful brook. Stay right UMass: Atkins Farm / Bay Road Kestrel Land Trust partners with public agencies to create, at the first and second intersections heading south then west. Walk conserve, and care for public lands to help everyone connect along the trail headed west, then take a left south and keep right with nature. The Sweet Alice Conservation Area is owned by the Town of Amherst, and acquired with assistance from Kestrel. The to take in the view of Plum Brook. Follow the trail back, then take YOU SHOULD KNOW a right and continue uphill before coming to a small opening at the Mount Holyoke Range State Park is owned by the Division of State powerline cut, this is a good place to watch birds and enjoy the Parks and Recreation. For more information contact Kestrel or: • Open dawn to dusk, year round view. Continue downhill to complete the loop. If you want to extend Town of Amherst your hike to the Mount Holyoke Range State Park, take a right at • Please keep dogs on leash and Department of Conservation the intersection and stay right through the powerline cut. To finish pick up after your pet 413-259-3045 a short hike, take a left to follow the trail back down to the bridge, • Respect adjacent private through the field and back to Bay Road. property by staying on the trail Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation 413-253-2883 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 BELCHERTOWN RD.
GATE- PRIVATE LAND HOUSE RD.
(RT. 9)
STANLEY ST.
Parking
River Fort WENTWORTH OLD FARM RD. FARM Field CONSERVATION Swampy area Parking
AREA Bridge Bridge Kiosk AMHERST, MASS
OND DISTANCE: 1.5 MILES TOTAL ’S P EN OW
SHELBURNE BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL Suggested route WENDELL MONTAGUE ASHFIELD WENTWORTH FARM Other trails PLAINFIELD CONSERVATION AREA WINDSOR Town of Amherst Streams & rivers Field CUMMINGTON Bridge
PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON LOCATOR NEW SALEM
PELHAM
AMHERST
HADLEY HARDWICK
MIDDLE Houses FIELD B’TOWN
NORTH 0 500 FT CHESTER GRANBY WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT WENTWORTH FARM CONSERVATION AREA AMHERST, MASS
The conservation lands around WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE Wentworth Farm offer easy walking through open fields that allow expansive views of the sky, as well as access to fishing on Owen’s Pond. Walk/Jog Play in the Water XC Ski / Snowshoe Bring Your Dog Sniff Wildflowers
SUGGESTED ROUTE DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR The trails on this land are made up of two separate loops • GPS address: 135 Stanley St., • Turtles at Owen’s Pond around the edges of adjacent tree-rimmed fields, with a Amherst, MA 01002 short trail linking the two. The loops can be accessed from • The big views of Mount Holyoke Range and Pelham Hills two different parking areas. From Stanley Street, walk over • Parking is available at the bend in Stanley • The swimming hole below the bridge over Fort River a substantial bridge to cross the Fort River after passing Street beside the playing fields. A second through a swampy area. From Old Farm Road, view the parking area is off Old Farm Road, a short distance from its intersection with Route 9. kiosk and walk along Owen’s Pond to access the loops. To PARTNERS MAKE do both loops from either entrance is just over 1.5 miles, and • Bus: 30 - North Amherst/ CONSERVATION POSSIBLE includes several bridge crossings. Keep an eye out for the Old Belchertown Road: Rolling Green many nestboxes that are installed to see which birds are using and Colonial Village Apts Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, them: house wrens, eastern bluebirds, tree swallows, perhaps conserve, and care for public lands to help everyone American kestrels or eastern screech owls? connect with nature. The conservation lands here are YOU SHOULD KNOW owned by the Town and portions are monitored by Kestrel through a Conservation Restriction. For more • Open dawn to dusk, year round information contact Kestrel or: • Please keep dogs on leash and pick up after your pet Town of Amherst Department of Conservation: • Respect adjacent private 413-259-3045 property by staying on the trail www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 Amherst/Pelham Town Line WHITNEY CONSERVATION AREA Town of Pelham
Ro AMETHYST BROOK be rt F r o s t CONSERVATION AREAS T ra il AMHERST & PELHAM, MASS
DISTANCE: LESS THAN 2 MILES
PRIVATE CONSERVED FARMLAND Suggested route Other trails Streams & rivers
Take in the k oo view Natural r spring t B ys th Stone spiral e KESTREL LAND Am and bridge D Bridge o TRUST LAND ri il (to be e G ra o T fixed 2018) ld st ma ro n T F ra Play t Bridge il r in the e b stream
o R Community gardens SHELBURNE BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY PRIVATE LAND AMETHYST BROOK ATHOL CONSERVATION AREA Field Town of Amherst WENDELL MONTAGUE ASHFIELD PLAINFIELD
WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON Parking AMHERST RD. LOCATOR
PERU
NEW SALEM PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON SHUTESBURY PELHAM RD. PELHAM RD. PELHAM
AMHERST PRIVATE LAND HADLEY HARDWICK MIDDLENORTH 0 500 FT FIELD BELCHER- TOWN
CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT AMETHYST BROOK CONSERVATION AREAS AMHERST & PELHAM, MASS
The conservation lands around Amethyst WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE Brook, owned by the Town of Amherst, the Town of Pelham and Kestrel Land Trust, are loved for wonderful trails along a babbling brook. Walk/Jog Play in the Water Bring Your Dog XC Ski / Snowshoe Watch Wildlife
SUGGESTED ROUTE DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
This double-looped trail is nearly 2 miles, and begins at the Town of • GPS address: Thayer St. & • Three wooden bridges cross Amethyst Brook, Amherst’s trailhead parking lot on Pelham Road in Amherst. Follow Pelham Rd., Amherst, MA 01002 providing places to pause to enjoy the water the trail away from the road through the fields, which are home to • Parking is available on Pelham Road the Town of Amherst’s Community Gardens. This red-blazed Robert next to the conservation area Frost Trail crosses a bridge and continues through the woods along PARTNERS MAKE • Bus: 45 - Amherst/Thayer Street the brook. Pass a second bridge. At the third bridge, take time to walk CONSERVATION POSSIBLE: a stone spiral on the left. Continue on the blue-blazed Dorie Goldman Trail onto Kestrel land. Follow the trail through the woods, then turn Kestrel Land Trust works in close partnership with left away from the brook, notice a natural spring on the right, and walk YOU SHOULD KNOW municipalities to create, conserve, and care for public up a short hill. At the top (the mid-way point of the hike) is a nice spot lands to help everyone connect with nature. to take in the view of the tree canopy. Continue to follow the blue • Open dawn to dusk, year round For more information about the conserved blazes through the woods, which are owned by the Town of Pelham, • Please keep dogs on leash and town lands located here, contact: and make a left at the main red-blazed Robert Frost trail, which takes pick up after your pet Town of Amherst you back down the hill toward the brook. Now cross the second bridge • Respect adjacent private property Department of Conservation: for the second loop. Follow the red-blaze along the brook on your right by staying on the trail now, back to the parking lot. 413-259-3045
Town of Pelham: Conservation Commission 413-253-0512 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 Parking
Old quarry
PEMBERTON KESTREL LAND TRUST MEMORIAL CONSERVED FOREST AND LAND
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BUTTER HILL D
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WILDLIFE O
N R SANCTUARY A PELHAM, MASS Gully
DISTANCE: JUST OVER 2 MILES
PRIVATE LAND
PRIVATE LAND
0 500 FT Turn
Turn
NORTH
SHELBURNE BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE Suggested Route SAVOY Old bridge ATHOL
WENDELL Other Trails MONTAGUE TurnASHFIELD PLAINFIELD Streams & rivers
WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON
PERU BUTTER HILL LOCATOR PETERSHAM WORTHINGTONWILDLIFE SANCTUARY NEW SALEM Town of Pelham
AMHERST PELHAM Wet Turn forest HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD
BELCHER- TOWN CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT PEMBERTON MEMORIAL FOREST AND BUTTER HILL WILDLIFE SANTUARY PELHAM, MASS
The conserved forests off Arnold Road WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE are loved for the wild woodland wildlife habitat. The marked descent (and the required ascent) will work your body and free your mind! Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Take Photographs Identify Tracks XC Ski / Snowshoe
SUGGESTED ROUTE
DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR This trail of just over two miles begins on the Pemberton Memorial Forest. The trail slowly rises, with a forested wetland on the right, • GPS Address: 70 Arnold Rd., • A heavy metal frame over a rock wall sided section of and drier rise on the left, including a small old quarry. (Can you Pelham, MA 01002 stream. Just an old road bridge, or something more? find it? Test your observational skills!) The trail soon enters Butter • Parking is available on the road on Hill Wildlife Sanctuary where it is marked with a blue blaze, and • A small old quarry dug into the hillside. the left (east) side towards the end of it crosses a gully then stays high and level for a while. The trail Arnold Road, with the trail beginning begins to descend, and where it terminates at a T intersection. opposite house #69 Turn right and continue downhill. Stay straight where a red-blazed PARTNERS MAKE trail comes in on the right (you will return here), and continue CONSERVATION POSSIBLE down into a wet forest with several streams, still following the YOU SHOULD KNOW blue blazes. Turn right onto the red blaze trail, being careful at a Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, couple of intersections to stay on the red blaze trail. Cross an old • Open dawn to dusk, year round conserve, and care for public lands to help everyone connect with nature. The conservation lands here are bridge (metal frame) over a stream (pausing perhaps to just catch • Please keep dogs on leash and pick up owned by the Town and Kestrel, and are monitored by your breath!). When you reach the blue trail, turn left and follow after your pet the trail back to the beginning. Kestrel through a Conservation Restriction. For more • Respect adjacent private property by information contact Kestrel or: staying on the trail Town of Pelham: Conservation Commission 413-253-0512 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 Parking WELL AWAY FARM AND HARKNESS CONSERVATION D. R EY L L AREA A V H UT PELHAM, MASS SO
DISTANCE: Historic JUST OVER 1.5 MILES homestead WELL AWAY FARM CONSERVATION RESTRICTION Bridge Privately Owned
Rocky wonderland
HARKNESS RD.
PRIVATE LAND
Brook
Suggested route
Old car HARKNESS Other trails SHELBURNE CONSERVATION AREA BUCKLAND Town of PelhamERV HAWLEY GREEN ING Streams & FIELD ORANGE SAVOY rivers ATHOL
WENDELL MONTAGUE ASHFIELD PLAINFIELD PRIVATE LAND WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON
PERU Dog leg LOCATOR PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM
PELHAM NORTH
HADLEY AMHERST HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD 0 500 FT B’TOWN
CHESTER GRANBY WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT WELL AWAY FARM AND HARKNESS CONSERVATION AREA PELHAM, MASS
The privately owned Well Away Farm WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE includes a public trail to Harkness Conservation Area. Together, they make a varied walk through an open field, wetlands, and deep forest, and a pleasant walk back Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife XC Ski / Snowshoe Spy Butterflies Visit Wetlands along the road. and Insects
SUGGESTED ROUTE DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR This clockwise loop is just over 1.5 miles. From the trailhead sign on • The two grassy fields that let in the sky and provide South Valley Road, walk through the forested strip into the first field. • GPS address: another perspective on the forest. Follow the lower right edge of the field, and go through another strip 60 South Valley Rd., of forest until you enter the second field. Again, follow the right edge Pelham, MA 01002 • To test your eyes, try to spot an old car off the trail! of the field and enter the forest. Go over a bridge. Follow the trail • Parking is available on the markers as you weave and slowly ascend, crossing a mossy brook, east side of South Valley PARTNERS MAKE until you reach a rocky wonderland. Pause to explore the rocks. Road, opposite house #61 CONSERVATION POSSIBLE Follow the markers a little longer until you reach a forest road; turn right. Follow the aqua blazes, passing a brook and, a bit further, an Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns and landowners old car. The trail terminates at a T intersection. Take a left and then YOU SHOULD KNOW to create, conserve, and care for lands to help everyone a quick right (dog leg turn) to be on the blue blaze trail, and follow connect with nature. The conserved lands here are owned that blaze color until it brings you to Harkness Road, noting a shrubby • Open dawn to dusk, year round by a private landowner and the Town and monitored by wetland on the left. Now you can either re-trace your steps through • Please keep dogs on leash and Kestrel through a Conservation Restriction. For more the forest, or complete the loop by walking along the road. To continue pick up after your pet information contact Kestrel or: the loop, take a right on Harkness Road and walk until you see South Valley Road, where you will turn right (note the historic homestead • Respect adjacent private Town of Pelham on the corner) to proceed to the parking area. property by staying on the trail Conservation Commission: 413-253-0512 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 PRIVATE LAND
Brook crossing
Steep HOLLAND GLEN slope Waterfall CONSERVATION Flat area AREA above the ravine BELCHERTOWN, MASS
DISTANCE: JUST OVER 1 MILE
Suggested Route
Other Trails HOLLAND GLEN CONSERVATION AREA Streams & rivers Town of Belchertown
SHELBURNE Steep BUCKLAND ERV slope HAWLEY GREEN ING NORTH FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL
WENDELL MONTAGUE 0 500 FT ASHFIELD PLAINFIELD Brook
WINDSOR crossing CUMMINGTON
PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON NEW SALEM AMHERST R D. (RT . 9) Parking LOCATOR area PELHAM
HARDWICK
MIDDLE FIELD
AMHERST
PRIVATE LAND BELCHERTOWN
CHESTER GRANBY WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT HOLLAND GLEN CONSERVATION AREA BELCHERTOWN, MASS
This conservation land offers a shady WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE but steep and challenging hike along the Hop Brook ravine, which provides access to a series of waterfalls.
Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Take Photographs Play in the Water Identify Tracks SUGGESTED ROUTE
This loop trail is just over a mile, but feels longer due to the DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR moderate ascent and descent. Follow the yellow blaze trail up the hill along Hop Brook ravine, underneath a hemlock canopy. • GPS address: 314 MA-9, • One of the more significant waterfalls The trail soon leads away from the brook, but comes closer again Belchertown, MA 01007 in the area, which flows all year round, at a flat, high area above the ravine that is a great rest area. The • Parking is available at the trail head on but is particularly active in spring, and yellow blazed trail continues up the hill and away from the brook, the east side of Amherst Road (Route 9), enchantingly icy in winter but look for the white blazed trail off to the right. Follow that trail just north of the Hop Brook bridge (north down to a brook crossing. Stop to appreciate the clean flowing of house # 300) water! You will soon come to the rocky waterfall. If you aren’t • Bus: 45 - Belchertown Center/ UMass: PARTNERS MAKE feeling too adventurous, you may want to return the way you Holland Glen have just come. Otherwise, continue downstream following the CONSERVATION POSSIBLE white blazes. The trail becomes narrower as it traverses the side of the gully, but by following the brook, you will come to a wider YOU SHOULD KNOW Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, part of the gully and a second brook crossing that returns you to conserve, and care for public lands to help everyone the yellow blazed trail. Continue downhill to the trailhead where • Open dawn to dusk, year round connect with nature. The conservation lands here you began. are owned by the Town and monitored by Kestrel • Please keep dogs on leash and pick through a Conservation Restriction. For more up after your pet information contact Kestrel or: • Respect adjacent private property by staying on the trail Town of Belchertown Conservation Commission: 413-323-0405 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 JABISH BROOK CONSERVATION AREA BELCHERTOWN, MASS Rock “puzzle” Big oak
DISTANCE: JUST OVER 1 MILE Sitting rocks Bridge
Bridge
Boy scout cabin JABISH BROOK CONSERVATION AREA Town of Belchertown
Suggested route
Streams & rivers
Footbridge SHELBURNE BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY ATHOL Low ridge with mountain laurel WENDELL MONTAGUE
) ASHFIELD
2
0 PLAINFIELD
2
.
T Bridge WINDSOR
R
(
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H PRIVATE LAND
G PERU I Main PETERSHAM H NEW SALEM parking WORTHINGTON
S
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A
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L NEW SALEM
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A
D roadside HARDWICK
parking MIDDLE FIELD
PRIVATE LAND AMHERST BELCHERTOWN WARE
NORTH 0CHESTER 500 FT
WARE GRANBY
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT JABISH BROOK CONSERVATION AREA BELCHERTOWN, MASS
The easy forested loop trail here provides WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE access to the pristine Jabish Brook and a window into abundant wildlife habitat.
SUGGESTED ROUTE Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Take Photographs Sit a Spell Identify Tracks
This counterclockwise loop trail is just over 1 mile, and includes a handful of bridges. Follow the trail down from the parking area DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR that is located a few hundred yards off 202, to Jabish Brook. Cross over the main bridge and turn right where the trail forks. The trail • GPS address: 513 U.S. 202, • The footbridge over the clean flowing is well marked with a yellow star on a blue blaze. You will walk up a Belchertown, MA water of Jabish Brook. low ridge with mountain laurel, which is spectacular in late spring. The walk is then slightly uphill through deciduous forest, and small • Parking is available on the east side of • Mountain laurels flowering in spring bridges allow you to cross seasonal brooks. The many nibbled Route 202 (just over two miles north of • Signs of moose hemlock saplings indicate that moose visit the area. Look for a big the intersection with Routes 9) opposite oak and further on a rock puzzle. The trail enters a shady hemlock House # 509. Parking is also available forest with an inviting, open understory. There are numerous large along the dirt road a couple hundred PARTNERS MAKE sitting rocks; find a favorite one to sit on and enjoy the forest with yards beyond (at the trailhead) CONSERVATION POSSIBLE all your senses! The trail descends back to Jabish Brook and stays close to the water. Enjoy the flowing water and note the Boy Scout Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, hut on the left. Head back over the bridge and up to the trailhead YOU SHOULD KNOW conserve, and care for public lands to help everyone where you began. connect with nature. The conservation lands here • Open dawn to dusk, year round are owned by the Town and portions are monitored • Please keep dogs on leash and pick by Kestrel through a Conservation Restriction. up after your pet For more information contact Kestrel or: • Respect adjacent private property Town of Belchertown by staying on the trail Conservation Commission: 413-323-0405 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 il ra T ic n e c S Turn ’l at N N land High ew Eng NORTH 0 500 FT point
Shady brook Ridge
PRIVATE LAND
Undulating ground
SCARBOROUGH BROOK CONSERVATION AREA Town of Belchertown
Forest begins
N
O Ponds PRIVATE R T CONSERVED H
LAND G
U
L F
R D SHELBURNE . BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING Parking FIELD ORANGE SAVOY GU LF RD ATHOL WENDELL MONTAGUE ASHFIELD PLAINFIELD
WINDSOR Road CUMMINGTON
SCARBOROUGHPERU BROOK PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON LOCATOR NEW SALEM CONSERVATION AREA NEW SALEM BELCHERTOWN, MASS Suggested route AMHERST PELHAM
Other trails HARDWICK MIDDLE DISTANCE: JUST OVER 1 MILE FIELD
Streams & rivers BELCHERTOWN CHESTER WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT SCARBOROUGH BROOK CONSERVATION AREA BELCHERTOWN, MASS
The conservation lands around WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE Scarborough Brook are loved for the two fishing ponds and the surrounding field and forests. It is also home to a section of the long-distance New Watch Wildlife Take Photographs XC Ski / Snowshoe Spy Butterflies Share a Picnic England National Scenic Trail with a and Insects nice view from the land’s high point. DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR
SUGGESTED ROUTE • GPS address: 499 Gulf Rd., • An open field close to the parking area, with picnic tables Belchertown, MA 01007 and two wonderful ponds that attract a variety of wildlife This loop is just over one mile. Walk over the bridge and into • Parking is available on the left hand • A short side trail leading to a shady brook the field that borders the two ponds. There are picnic tables side of Gulf Road, near the four way and bird nestboxes in this area, and the upper pond is readily intersection of Gulf Road with North accessible. Follow the trail, which has white blazes, past the and South Gulf Roads, opposite house ponds to where the forest begins. The trail slowly rises, and PARTNERS MAKE # 454 Gulf Road a short side trail on the left leads down to the shady brook, CONSERVATION POSSIBLE which is worth a visit. Back on the main trail, the path rises more sharply and traverses the top of a small ridge, allowing Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, conserve, excellent views into the forest. You will soon enter private YOU SHOULD KNOW and care for public lands to help everyone connect with property, so please be respectful of the landowner’s generosity. nature. The conservation lands here are owned by the Turn right at a T intersection. You are soon at the high point of • Open dawn to dusk, year round Town and monitored by Kestrel through a Conservation the walk, and approximately half-way through the loop. Pause • Please keep dogs on leash and Restriction. For more information contact Kestrel or: here to enjoy the forest and the views through the trees. The pick up after your pet trail weaves through undulating terrain to Gulf Road. Turn Town of Belchertown • Respect adjacent private right and follow this quiet road back to the beginning. Conservation Commission property by staying on the trail 413-323-0405 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018 Turn 0 500 FT
NORTH
CADWELL MEMORIAL FOREST University of Massachusetts
MEAD’S CORNER CONSERVATION AREA Kestrel Land Trust MEAD’S CORNER Pull off CONSERVATION AREA BELCHERTOWN & PELHAM, MASS
DISTANCE: JUST OVER 1 MILE
MEAD’S CORNER CONSERVATION AREA Town of Belchertown Suggested route
Other trails
Streams & rivers
SHELBURNE BUCKLAND ERV HAWLEY GREEN ING FIELD ORANGE SAVOY Stone walls ATHOL converge WENDELL MONTAGUE GOLD ST. ASHFIELD Seasonal PLAINFIELD brook
WINDSOR
CUMMINGTON Locked gate Parking PERU PETERSHAM WORTHINGTON LOCATOR NEW SALEM
NEW SALEM GOLD ST. PELHAM AMHERST
HARDWICK
PRIVATE LAND MIDDLE PRIVATE LAND FIELD BELCHERTOWN
GULF RD.
CHESTER GRANBY WARE
WARREN BLANDFORD RUSSELL PALMER
WEST WESTFIELD SPRING WILBRAHAM MONSON FIELD SPRINGFIELD BRIMFIELD A TRAIL FOR EVERYONE AT MEAD’S CORNER CONSERVATION AREA BELCHERTOWN & PELHAM, MASS
The conservation lands at Mead’s WHAT YOU CAN DO HERE Corner are loved for the easy and flat stroll through deciduous woodland. The stone walls tell a story of the area’s farming history when there were once many sheep but few trees! Walk/Jog Watch Wildlife Identify Tracks Take Photographs XC Ski / Snowshoe
DIRECTIONS WHAT TO LOOK FOR SUGGESTED ROUTE
• GPS address: 400 Gold St., • Old stone walls This loop is just over one mile. Walk around the locked gate Belchertown, MA 01007 and follow the wide vehicle trail for half a mile. On both sides • The private historic house opposite • Parking is available at the corner of of the road there are well-formed rock walls that date back the trail head Gold and Packardville Roads, but be to the 1800s when this landscape was grazed by sheep. The careful not to block the locked gate woods are largely deciduous, and are shady in summer and at the beginning of the trail sunny in winter. You will come to an area with several signs PARTNERS MAKE tacked onto the trees, indicating a trail on the right. Turn CONSERVATION POSSIBLE down this trail, sometimes used by ATVs, and weave through converging stonewalls, across a seasonal brook, and down to YOU SHOULD KNOW Kestrel Land Trust partners with towns to create, Gold Street. Turn right on Gold Street and walk back along this conserve, and care for public lands to help everyone quiet road to the where you began. Afterwards, you can head • Open dawn to dusk, year round connect with nature. The conservation lands here are ¾ mile down Gulf Road to Scarborough Brook Conservation • Please keep dogs on leash and owned by the Town and Kestrel Area to enjoy the two ponds, picnic tables, and perhaps take pick up after your pet and monitored by Kestrel through a another loop walk there! Conservation Restriction. For more • Respect adjacent private information contact Kestrel or: property by staying on the trail Town of Belchertown 413-323-0405 www.kestreltrust.org v.1–Nov 2018