Scoping out Knuckup Hill, Wrentham

Wide open views from the top of Knuckup (some know it as Sweatt) Hill

As part of the Massachusetts Walking Tour, there will be an “open to the public Easy Walk” to the top of Knuckup Hill in Wrentham, just before the concert that will take place in that same neighborhood in Wrentham. The concert will take place June 23rd from 6-8PM at the Wrentham Senior Center on Taunton Street, and folks heading out on the Knuckup Hill walk will meet at this same Senior Center at 4PM. The plan is to be back in time to enjoy the concert after the walk 🙂

On another visit, in the fall. You can see how wide the fire road is, which makes for easy walking

L.L. Bean is partnering with the Walking Tour to host this walk, and thus we needed to follow L.L. Bean’s guidance for running the walk. One of the things they do prior to taking a trip to an area the trip leaders have not visited before is to take a “pre-hike.” Today was the day for our pre-hike. I met up in the morning with John Smith, who works at the Mansfield L.L. Bean store. This store is handling registration for the free hike. He brought along one of their trip leaders, Sandy, so she would also be familiar with the area and be sure the trail conditions worked for them.

We headed up the fire road that goes directly to the clearing at the top of Knuckup Hill, and found it much as it has been on my other visits. An easy walk (despite the slope) with an amazing view. Despite the haze, we were able to pick out the buildings of Boston in the distance. Much closer by, we spotted the spire of the Congregational Church in the center of Wrentham. And beyond, more hills in the distance.

John timed us. It was a seven minute walk up the hill. Yup, pretty easy, with solid footing, as long as you avoided the areas of the fire road that have been washed out with recent rains.

John and Sandy take in the views of Trout Pond

We headed back down and followed the road over to Trout Pond, which was almost more challenging, simply because parts of the track around the pond were filled with water.

Lush ferns flourish along the slope next to the pond

We mostly tiptoed around the edges, and still came back with smiles on our faces.

Water views

Want to join in the fun? Be sure to head over to the L.L. Bean Mansfield store website to register at their events page. The musicians of the Walking Tour will be joining the group and offering a few tunes at the top of the hill before they head back to get ready for the concert. Bring some snacks, then settle in for a great time. See you there, and Happy Trails!

Marjorie

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors, and is the author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, More Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, Easy Walks and Paddles in the Ten Mile River Watershed, and Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are. Her memoir, the backstory of Easy Walks, is My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming hope in a world turned upside down.