Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
We took our adaptive tandem bicycle to the Salmon River State Forest in Colchester and East Hampton, Connecticut and found such a different place from our visit a few years back. Typically the Salmon River is wadeable in late summer, a small almost stream that cuts its way through steep banks of rock.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
I have visited Beavertail State Park since before it was a state park. Years ago, it was a cool rocky shoreline with a lighthouse. The access road was dirt, with lots of potholes. Visiting here was an adventure, for sure! The area was not accessible except by those who enjoy rock hopping. When I was younger, that worked fine. Not so much these days.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
On our way elsewhere, we passed by an intriguing spot just off Route 44, 8 Nemasket Street, in Middleboro, and discovered a very cool historic site along the Nemasket River. As soon as we pulled into the good-sized parking area I knew I had heard of this before–Peter Oliver’s Mill Park has a fish ladder that is essential for migrating herring in the spring. My friend Brenda (Natures Fairy on Youtube) has shared videos of the migrating herring, but I had no idea it had all the historic features we found.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
While visiting the area, we stopped along the Quinapoxit River to walk along an abandoned road that offers great views of the river. The pavement is still mostly intact, although several areas have lost some pavement from washouts in seasonal storms. The road is open to walkers and bicyclists.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
We have visted Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge a number of times, but typically in the winter, and often because we have been nearly certain we will spot snowy owls at some point during our visit. Because of impending rain, we hoped this popular spot would be less crowded, even though it was a holiday weekend in mid-summer. We were surprised, however, at the number of others who had the same idea we did, even as storm clouds threatened.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
We visited the Franklin Falls Dam recreation area and found a great six mile long trail (basically a fire road) alongside the Pemigewasset River. The trail is in good condition, offering views of the river along almost the entire length of the path. Besides a great spot to enjoy the natural history of the area, we realized we had stumbled into some fascinating cultural history as well.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
The 8 arch bridge is best enjoyed off the trail. The arches are only visible to passers-by, but still, the views from the bridge itself–now that is what keeps me returning to this spectacular spot along the Holliston Upper Charles Trail.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
Publicizing my latest book, Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are, has been taking up a lot of my energy, so it was wonderful to get out on the trail with local grands over the weekend to help them enjoy the temporary Storywalk® posted along the trail at the SNETT in Bellingham near the Center Street entrance to the trail. New storywalks® will be posted each month
This handicapped accessible portion of the rail trail is busy these days, and got busier shortly after we’d finished reading the story when a group of folks hit the trail with the Franklin & Bellingham rail trail committee. Fortunately the trail is quite flat, wide, with extra space on each side of the stone dust trail where we could step off safely as groups of folks passed by. Most walkers wore masks, which we really appreciated.
The grands are both able to read these days, so it was fun to see them taking in the story page by page then rushing on to the next page of the story. They also took in the new signs posted by the rail trail committee, in cooperation with DCR, to identify various tree species along the trail. We got a little practice with our Latin as we walked.
Trolley Crossing Farm, which abuts the trail, has a produce stand next to the trail and local pumpkins were available.
The snag–you have to carry them back to the car with you.
My grands used some ingenuity to figure out a handy way to carry their small pumpkins, or as one said, her “pumpkinette.”
I had been on this same trail just the other day to tape another episode of our new Cable TV show, “Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are.” We wanted to highlight the storywalk® and learned about more railroad history from the rail trail committee member who walked with us that day.
It’s fun to travel, but it’s also wonderful to slip in short walks right around the corner from where we live. We are so lucky to have this great trail, still under development, available to visit whenever we want. 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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A gaggle of ducklings skitter about in the water at Franklin’s sculpture park
What a pleasure to introduce friends to lovely local spots around the corner from where I live. Despite having visited both spots many times in the past, surprises awaited at both locations. Continue reading
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Large beech tree at Thayer House Medway still holds on to a very few leaves as winter sets in
We’ve had some snow recently, then deep, deep cold that has turned the soft fluffy white stuff into the kind of surface that prompts one to think of ice skates. Turns out this has been a week I’ve been out on the trails quite a bit, so I’ve had the chance to sample many types of ice on the trails in the area. I hear we’re in for more snow, and possible rain, which will alter the landscape yet again so it’s anybody’s guess what next week will bring! Continue reading
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Marjorie Turner Hollman 