Winter offers challenges if you’re looking for pretty spots to take pictures of outdoor scenery. Lots of dead branches, lifeless-looking trees, low light. And yet… there is something so charming (to me) about being outdoors in cold weather, paying attention to how the outdoor world copes with harsh winter weather. In fact, so far this winter has been rather mild in New England. Ice is still trying to form on many ponds. The ground is just now beginning to harden–we feel the change as we stride along the trails.
Winter is also a quieter time. Lake Whitehall, a state park in Hopkinton, MA, is a mecca for boaters in warmer weather, but in the colder months those of us who prefer quieter spots have the place mostly to ourselves. We’ll go elsewhere in the summer, but for now, it’s all ours to enjoy. And the trail to the right of the parking lot which fronts onto Rt. 135 just west of Rt. 495, certainly makes the cut as an Easy Walk. You’ll find more details about this and many other local trails in “More Easy Walks in Massachusetts.”
Be sure to “Like” us on Facebook at “Easy Walks in Massachusetts” for updates on all things outdoors, especially events that other organizations are sponsoring, safety information and more.
Marjorie Turner Hollman
Marjorie Turner Hollman is a personal historian who loves the outdoors, and has completed two guides to Easy Walking trails in Massachusetts, “Easy Walks in Massachusetts 2nd edition,” and “More Easy Walks in Massachusetts.” A native Floridian, she came north for college and snow! New England Regional Chair for the Association of Personal Historians, she is a Certified Legacy Planner with LegacyStories.org, and is the producer of numerous veterans interviews for the Bellingham/Mendon Veteran’s History Project. http://www.marjorieturner.com
https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Walks-Massachusetts-2nd-Northbridge/dp/0989204340