Pout Pond, Uxbridge
I’ve been steadily working away at updating my first trails book, Easy Walks in Massachusetts. My first attempt at this sort of publication, Easy Walks, the first edition, lacked maps to trail heads, left out a number of area towns in the Blackstone River Valley, and omitted several really nice trails in the area the book covered. I’ve learned of some new trail systems, some quite nice, that I wanted my readers to know about. Continue reading
Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks
Sculpture Park, Franklin, MA
When the woods begin filling with color, it’s as though I’ve forgotten this ever happened before. Some view fall as the harbinger of winter, but for me, it is the long-promised relief from the heat of summer. Continue reading
Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks
The more work I do on my Easy Walks in Massachusetts series, the more I realize that my love of the outdoors is 
complementary to my love of history. Yes, I love to walk along rushing streams, and deeply enjoy overlooks that provide grand views of the countryside. But I also travel back in time with each stone wall I see. Open farm fields and pastures where trees now stand tall fill my imagination. Stone foundations that appear “out of nowhere” were, in another time, the center of a family’s life. Mill dams and mill races beside streams were once essential sources of power for a community.
I visited The Trustees of Reservations Cormier Woods in Uxbridge, MA and got a guided tour of some of the property with the caretaker, Mary Beauchamp. As we strolled along the trails Mary shared some of the history of the farm, but when we got to the site of an old homestead, she confessed they knew little about it. Continue reading
Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks
Lookout Rock in Northbridge, MA on Quaker Street always offers a lovely view of the countryside. Lots of “leaf peepers” hit the highways and head north or west from here to see the sights, but miss the sometimes spectacular views right in our backyard. Right now I am hitting the trail as often as I can to capture views such as this before winter sets in. I am keenly aware of the seasons. I also know that spring will return!
Marjorie Turner Hollman
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.
Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks
Marjorie Turner Hollman (courtesy of The Bellingham Bulletin)
We hear a lot about how important it is that we exercise more, but many of us don’t have the money to pay for gym memberships. And gym memberships don’t do much good if you never use them. Perhaps you’d be tempted by new places to walk your dogs, trails that offer different experiences in different seasons, or places that are safe for children and have walking paths good for people of all ages. Sound tempting?
There are many trails either in Bellingham or within twenty minutes away that are great places to return to again and again. River Bend Farm in Uxbridge has free parking; restrooms are available in the Visitors Center daily, from 10 am to 4 pm. Fishing is permitted, there’s easy canoe and kayak access into the canal beside the Visitors Center, and the tow path along the canal is flat. Continue reading
Filed under Blog posts--Easy Walks
Marjorie Turner Hollman 