Fall colors along the paved Marsh Trail, Salisbury, MA
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their nonfiction books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space.Learn more.
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Salisbury, Massachusetts offers a wonderful rail trail network that provides marsh views, woodland paths and an overlook of the Merrimack River. Our visit was on a perfect fall day, with little if any wind. Bright autumn colors glowed in the sunshine. We saw few other people using the trail, which surprised us, since we were there on a weekend.
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their nonfiction books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space.Learn more.
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their nonfiction books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space.Learn more.
LISTEN:
Our calendar to-do list is pretty big this fall. Before we tend to those tasks, and it gets too cold (for us) to bicycle in New England, we decided to take a break. Vermont is a New England state we have spent little time in. This was our chance to explore the Lamoille Valley Rail trail, near Stowe, Vermont.
Marjorie Turner Hollman is an author, creator, observer, and disability advocate who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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The Medway (MA) Trails Club and Open Space Committee have been hard at work since I last updated the 2nd edition of Easy Walks in Massachusetts in 2016. I recently visited Medway a couple of times to see for myself the changes that have taken place. Here’s a link to maps of all the open space in Medway.
As I work to update the book, my first outing to Choate Park this year with my friend Nancy was simply to capture some of the stunning foliage around Choate Pond, just off Rt. 109 in Medway. The trees did not disappoint. Watery reflections doubled the display of fall color.
Turtles resting on a log in Choate Pond
In the afternoon sunlight a row of turtles perched themselves on a tree trunk that had conveniently fallen into the pond.
Stone walls follow parts of the path from Choate Park onto Medway High School and beyond
The trail to Medway High School is accessed directly from the Choate Park recreation area. Keep an eye out in the afternoon when school is dismissed. Students use this trail when leaving for the day. The Cross Country (CC) team also uses this area as their CC race course. Plan to enjoy the quiet, stone walls, a small stream, and access to additional trails which will take ambitious walkers on several more miles of trail.
I learned that a new parking area, with access to a handicapped accessible path through the Adams Street meadow, is now useable.
Packed stone dust path encircles the Adams St. meadow
The grand opening for the trail is not yet scheduled, but the trail and parking area are finished and ready for visitors.
My tour guide Andrea
A member of the Open Space committee, Andrea, joined me for my visit to the meadow. Thanks to the hard work of local committees and additional funding through an RTP grant from Massachusetts Division of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the meadow trail provides a paved handicapped accessible parking area. The crushed stone path takes visitors around the circumference of the meadow.
One of several benches in place along the Meadow trail
Multiple benches and picnic tables provide places to rest, or simply spend some time enjoying the view.
Viewing platform, overlooking the meadow
Species such as bluebirds and bobolinks need open space such as the Adams St. meadow to thrive. A handicapped accessible viewing platform hosts a bench for those looking to spend some time relaxing there. Additional connecting trails take visitors behind Medway High School back toward Choate Park.
Boardwalk over Chicken Brook
Yet another trail system on the other side of Adams St. hosts two boardwalks that cross Chicken Brook (a tributary of the Charles River). This portion of the trail has a small parking area on Adams St. next to the high tension wires that cross the area. The path from the high tension wires goes through woodland and wetland (thus the boardwalks) on its way to a small parking area on Lovering Street. Both Adams and Lovering Street and their parking areas are accessed from Summer Street (Rt. 126) in Medway.
Parking area at high tension lines on Adams St.Parking area sign at Lovering St.
I was excited to see all the progress that has occurred since I released the second edition of Easy Walks in Massachusetts. Our local rail trails have seen the most progress in connecting portions of trail from one town to the next. The town-owned open space of Choate Park is impressive, not only for efforts within the town to provide better access to their trail network, but for the countless volunteer hours that have contributed to making well marked trails available for residents and visitors alike.
Choate Park and its network of trails in Medway, MA are a worthwhile destination for sure. Happy trails!
Easy Walks South of Boston features six different destinations to visit when you are in the town of Norton. On a beautiful day in autumn I stopped by four of these open space properties to get some pictures of fall color. It was also an opportunity to see what my collaborators, Marilyn and Dave Doré, had discovered during their fieldwork for the book.
Remnants of one of the quarries found at the Bird St. conservation area
One of the first things I learned about the trails at Bird St. Park in Stoughton, MA was that the best parking is not on Bird St. It’s on West St. OK, got it. Now to get there and head out on the trail.
Returning to where we have been before says a lot about our enjoyment level. Some are, for me, one and done. But I look forward to returning to others, like Powers Farm, Randolph, MA, when the opportunity presents itself.
The Basin in Franconia, NH is a delightful outdoor destination with paved walkways alongside the Pemigewasset River. It was not always so. Others who visited in years past describe steep, eroded paths that made for treacherous footing. A tremendous amount of effort and financial investment has transformed this into a beautiful place for people of many abilities to enjoy.
The trail guide, Easy Walks South of Boston includes over fifty open space areas in seventeen contiguous towns south of Boston, thus the title. I recently visited several of these paths on a beautiful, blue-sky day in early fall. We saw touches of color but nothing like the show that awaits us in autumn in New England.
Over several months, Marilyn and Dave Doré, my collaborators, visited the 50+ destinations that now constitute this newest trail guide. I am endeavoring to visit many of these places in the coming month or so in preparation for upcoming Easy Walks presentations in various towns. The programs will be open to the public.
Fall is still with us in New England and we have been anxious to get out before the gray of upcoming winter sets in. We headed out to Noon Hill in Medfield on a blue-sky day, since there is a nice view from Noon Hill (thus the name).
Marjorie Turner Hollman 