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| On June
6th 2009, the first Walk with Green Marlborough at Cider
Knoll conservation land attracted 20 Marlborough
residents. The oldest was 83 years old and the youngest was 7!
Most were walking trails at Cider Knoll for the first time and most people in the group met for the
first time, too. It
was a good opportunity to enjoy Marlborough
conservation lands in the comfort of a guided group and learn
how to read the trail map. Directions
from Route 20:
By FireFlies Restaurant go onto
Concord Road
. After a couple blocks take a left onto
Stow Road
. Pass
Simpson Road
on the left and take the next right into Cider Knoll’s parking
lot.
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| On July
4th Rick led a walk to The
Desert, a 615-acre conservation land area named for glacial
sand deposits and a scrub pine forest, with lovely streams and a
large wooded area. Directions to The Desert From Route 20 in Marlborough, turn
onto Concord Road by Firefly's
Restaurant. Stay on this road
2.5 miles. The
parking area with a sign saying
"The Desert" is on the
right.
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| On
August 1st the walk was at Callahan State Park on Broad
Meadow Road which has 800 acres of quiet wooded trails and open
fields. The walk included scenic Beebe Pond and the trails
were sometimes smooth and sometimes rugged. |
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| On
September 5th the fourth Walk with Green Marlborough
had 21 people walking to the 100-year-old maple tree on the top
of Mount
Ward. The youngest was one and a half years old and the oldest was
about 70. One person
had not been on this conservation land since he was a young boy
delivering papers to a home that is no longer there.
About half the people have walked with the group before;
some have even returned to previous trails to walk them again on
their own. The other half were new to the Saturday walk. |
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Three people
turned out for a local Green Marlborough walk at Felton
Conservation
Land
on Saturday October 3, a cold, rainy day.
While most people stayed home, Helen who is 84 looked
forward to the walk, as did Rick and Jen Boudrie and they all really
enjoyed the hike. The
rainy day hikers explored the Felton Conservation land’s
one-mile trail which meanders through the grassy green fields
and autumn-colored woodlands that are very pretty in October.
While walking and talking, they discovered that Helen
knew Benton MacKaye who is best known as the Father of the Appalachian Trail
because MacKaye lived in Shirley,
MA
where Helen grew up. While most people don’t know the name,
Rick, who hiked the AT 26 years ago, is very familiar with the
legendary story of MacKay’s creation of the Appalachian Trail
which is a spectacular 2,175 mile trail that stretches from
Maine to Georgia. Here's a link on that. http://books.google.com/books?id=I1hayhB0DEYC&dq=Larry+ANderson+Benton+Mackaye&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
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On November 7, 2009 17 Marlborough
residents walked more than 2 miles on a beautiful fall day
through the woods. Who knew that
Ghiloni
Park
and the
Marlborough
State
Forest
had such beautiful trails on 125 acres of land!
Many of the trails are unmarked but in the company of a
guide and with the assistance of a map the trails are easier to navigate. |
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On December 5, 2009
thirteen intrepid hikers came to enjoy a walk along the Bay Circuit Trail by Sudbury Reservoir.
The trail is wide and easy to follow. It's a sociable trail as people can walk side by side and
chat. The first half of the walk was in Marlborough and the
second half was in
Southborough. This trail,
which affords a nice view of Sudbury Reservoir, is part of the Bay
Circuit Trail in eastern Massachusetts
(www.BayCircuit.org). |
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On January 9, 2010 seven people
walked the winter trails of Felton Conservation Land with
snow-covered fields and woodland paths. Afterwards they
walked the nearby Coyote Trail by the Assabet River in
Northborough; the trailhead is on Boundary Street in
Marlborough. |
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February
6, 2010 It was a cold day but walking warmed everybody on
this wonderful winter walk in The Desert. We saw
beaver footprints in the snow near the stream and heard some
winter birds singing in the woods. "The Desert"
is an unusual name for this woodlands because it looks nothing
like a desert, but perhaps the glacial sand deposits and scrub
pine forest in some areas made someone think of a desert when
this conservation land was being named! |
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March 6, 2010. It was a
beautiful sunny day and 40degrees. We walked Cider Knoll
conservation land
- 100 acres of
conservation land with lovely
woodland trails, an open field, a
scenic pond with a beaver lodge, and a
stream. The property used to be part
of Mello Farm where some of us bought Thanksgiving turkeys
years ago. The walk was about about 2 miles & 2 hours.
Directions
from Route 20: By
FireFlies Restaurant go onto Concord Road. After a couple blocks, go left
onto Stow Road and go
one mile. Cider Knoll's parking lot is on the right. If
you pass the Mello Farmhouse you've gone too far.
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April
3, 2010 We had a good hike to the top of the hill called Mount
Ward. The group stopped for a photo under the
one-hundred-year-old maple tree at the top. Marlborough
has many nice conservation lands that people often say they
don't know about. These walks are an enjoyable way to get
to know conservation lands in a group.
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May 1, 2010 Before the Earth
Day Fair at Ghiloni Park the group met at the basketball court
to start their walk through the nearby Marlborough State
Forest which is surrounded by many neighborhoods and several
trail access points. Sixteen people went for a walk
including a family with a toddler who left a bit early.
People enjoyed walking with the group and getting a map to know
the trails better.
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June 5, 2010 Callahan State
Park has lots to offer with wooded trails, hills, open
fields, and a pond. Seven people had a hardy hike.
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July 3, 2010 It was a great
summer hike along this tree-shaded trail. This is an easy
hike with a wide trail through the woods with a view of the
Sudbury Reservoir. This trail is part of the Bay
Circuit Trail. The parking lot is off Parmeter Road,
about 1/5 mile from Broad Meadow Road.
At this point we've had 14 hikes.
Each hike there are returning hikers and people who are
new. Hikes have been to 7 different Marlborough properties
in all seasons and usually in very good weather! So far
altogether about 75 different people have walked about 325
miles. We hear from time to time that people return to the
trails and sometimes take family and friends with them.
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August 7, 2010 Another
excellent day for a summer Saturday morning walk! Only one
person had been on Coyote Trail before so this was a
great introductory hike. Twenty-five people walked shady
woodland trails, viewed the Assabet River water level was low!) and saw a small
farming field. This
walk technically starts on the
Marlborough/Northborough line and goes
into Northborough. It's an easy 2.4
mile walk from Boundary Street to Route 20 and back. Everyone was glad to hike the trail in
the company of a guided group and get a map of the trail. This photo
was taken on the way back after two left to explore a side trail
near their home. Directions: From Marlborough go on Route 20 to the
Northborough/Marlborough border and take a right on Boundary
Street. Take a left into the parking lot before crossing
the Assabet River bridge. For a map of this trail click on
http://www.northboroughtrails.org/MAPS/Coyote.pdf
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