Tag Archives: Easy Walks in Massachusetts

Easy Walks South of Boston is out!

We have been working since this past spring on the newest trail guide, Easy Walks South of Boston. Now available in paperback or ebook. Marilyn and Dave Doré have collaborated with me to make this a great resource for folks looking for Easy Walks.

So….what’s an Easy Walk? Not too many roots or rocks, relativley level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way. That’s it.

If you live in these towns or want to visit, there’s an Easy Walk waiting for you: Avon, Abington, Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Brockton, Canton, Dedham, Hanson, Holbrook, Norton, Norwood, Randolph, Rockland, Stoughton, Westwood, Whitman.

Marilyn and Dave Doré out on the trail

Here’s Marilyn’s essay about walking with her husband, who is legally blind. Please read it and understand what a labor of love this book is–for you or someone you know.

Interested in other areas? Here’s where you can peruse all the Easy Walks books and decide which one is best for you. 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, Easy Walks South of Boston 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.

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War Memorial Park, West Bridgewater, MA

So much history in a small riverside park

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

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War Memorial Park in West Bridgewater, MA looks like a small green space from the road. Well, …it is. Within its four+ acres is a lot to see. The Town River flows through the area, and as with so many rivers, and even streams in New England, the river was used as a power source for multiple industries through the years.

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Rail trail explore in Rockland, MA

End of the line in Hanover, MA (for now)

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

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We never know what we will find when visiting a new (to us) rail trail. The Hanover Branch, or Rockland Rail trail, mostly in Rockland, MA, is a work in progress. It is already a community resource, primarily for walkers, since it is relatively short for right now, (3+ miles end to end).

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Endean Recreation area, Norwood, MA

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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Former swimming hole now a scenic pond at Endean Recreation Area, Norwood

The new trail guide, Easy Walks South of Boston, uses the same template as the other trail guides, with information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing and something of interest along the way) in towns that are contiguous to each other.

Recently I had the chance to visit several of the trails that will be in the book. Here’s what I found at Endean Recreation area in Norwood:

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Bridges, Bicycles, and Rail Trails, oh my!

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

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Walkers, bicyclists and other non-motorized travelers can now go from Acton to Concord, MA on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. The trail stretches from Lowell, MA in the north to Framingham inthe south. Progress on developing the Sudbury/Framingham sections is ongoing. An impressive bridge connecting the two sections now stretches across Rt. 2 in Acton, near the Concord rotary, and continues south into Concord.

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Been there, done that? Cape Cod Canal Bikeway

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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Book cover photo, taken along the north side of the Cape Cod Canal looking east

It had been a while since we visited the Cape Cod Canal bikeway. Easy to get to, no need to cross either canal bridge if you stay on the north side, and so scenic. A place that is easy to access can be taken for granted. However, like other places we may feel tempted to dismiss as “boring,” the canal offers great variety when you look a little closer for what can change between visits.

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Choate Park Medway in Springtime

Light green and red lacy buds decorate the tops of trees in spring at Choate Pond, Medway

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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Spring is a great time to get outside, but like the fall, visible signs of spring and the changes that happen in this season are compressed into a few short weeks. Summer and winter last for months on end. If you miss the window of opportunity to catch these quick changes, you will have to wait till next year to witness, and possibly capture in photos the wonders of new life springing forth all around us. At least, this is what I reasoned after realizing I have very few good photos of spring in my files.

Thus I welcomed the opportunity to get outside on a windy spring afternoon in April at Choate Park in Medway, MA. I met up with Marilyn and Dave Doré, collaborators with me for our now published book, titled Easy Walks in Massachusetts South of Boston. We were excited to get started on this trail guide, a companion to the other Easy Walks in Massachusetts books already available. We published the book in September, 2023 and it is now available in paperback and ebook formats.

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Birchwold Farm in Spring

Open fields offer lots of sunshine on a blue-sky day
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Warmer days offer a great excuse to get outdoors (as though we need an excuse). Grass is poking up through the soil. Maple trees are setting out buds that trim the woods’ edges with a reddish hue. My spring favorite, skunk cabbage, unfurls its shiny, rubbery looking shoots on the edge of, and sometimes in the middle of woodland streams and wetlands.

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Humor on the trail

An important sign, in case you had thoughts about continuing on…

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Along the way in our travels we have spotted signs that make us laugh. My guess is that humor was not the intention when the sign was put up. Maybe it’s just our wacky perspective on life, but whatever the cause, these signs have made us stop, think, and often giggle. I share these photos with you in the hope that they will bring a smile. Perhaps you’ll spot some humor on the trail in your travels too.

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Getting outside–whatever it takes

The backstory of why Easy Walks

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

This blog and my books often make note of my challenges in getting outside. (Total paralysis on my right side from life-saving brain surgery that has partially resolved.) Many of you have your own reasons for seeking out Easy Walks. So… what has made the difference in helping me get outside safely? Family, yes. Friends, yes. People who are willing to drive me to far-flung destinations, yes. However, learning how to best use physical supports to aid me in walking outdoors has been a more challenging quest. Tools I have found useful have varied as my body has healed and become capable of doing more on my own.

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