A Walk in the Woods: Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro State Forest

This year it seems we only hiked during holiday weekends. Originally we had thought we would go camping over Independence Day but we decided there was much to be done around the house. Big Dude was easily convinced to go for a short walk in the woods nearby. There are several conservation areas local to us but we had not been to this one in about two years. 

Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest is spread out over three towns in Massachusetts. I learned about it when I worked in a residential treatment facility for boys that had an outdoor based component. It contains about 1,140 acres of woods and wetlands. I've often come across paintball tournaments, mountain bikers, and cross country skiers while hiking the woods. It may have been a Native American village prior to the arrival of the colonists and there are often rumors and ghost stories told about certain areas of the woods.  

Ghosts or not we went to the trail head on Trotting Park Road in Lowell. There are several entrances to the forest but I've always found this one the easiest to access.

Trail head on Trotting Park Road

We parked and unloaded the dog and Lil' Dude. He took great pride in being able to walk under the gate without ducking his head. After a few steps he decided he wanted the Big Dude to carry him in the backpack. So up he went and on we walked.

Beyond the Gate

L2 on the Healthy Heart Trail

We had decided to try to follow the Healthy Heart Trail. On the trail map it is indicated by the hearts. Interestingly enough, the family trail appears to be the same path. Throughout the entire forest are blue hiker blazes.

Blazes

We hiked for a short while before we arrived at our first turn in the loop. L5 took us over a small footbridge and deeper into the forest towards Tyngsboro.

L5 Marker

Footbridge

We caught glimpses of wetlands through the trees. The trail had several footbridges on them. None of them had water or even mud under them. It had been a rather dry beginning to the summer so far. We came upon a funny plank bridge that forked into a "Y" shape. As we walked over it, we couldn't determine why it was a "Y" since the trail joined back up around the trees.

"Y" bridge

We walked on with the sunlight shining through the trees. The weather was warm but not hot. It definitely was comfortable for this pregnant lady to be hiking. At the side of the trail, we came upon a teeter totter. Of course, Big and Lil' had to go over it.

Teeter Totter

Soon after, Lil' Dude declared he wanted to hike too. This was good because it meant I could hand off the dog to Big Dude. Apparently, Ansel was very excited to be in the woods. He was pulling and trying to be at the front of his "pack" for most of the hike. We stopped to look at a pretty wetland area.

Wetlands

Fortunately as Lil' Dude wanted to walk, I was able to hand off our rambunctious pup to the Big Dude. Lil' was much easier to keep in check. 

We crossed back over Trotting Park Road at L10 and continued down the Heart Healthy Trail. This section of the trail gave us lovely views of Spruce Swamp. There was a gentle breeze and it kept the bugs away. Lil' Dude ran ahead a bit and explored along the trail. We could easily see him, so we were not concerned about loosing him, especially since he stopped every few seconds to touch something.

Giant Tree

Spruce Swamp

Spruce Swamp

Spruce Swamp

There were a few off shoots from the trail so we decided to continue hugging the shoreline. This meant that we missed the turn to follow the Healthy Heart Trail. However, it did bring us to this lovely spot. 

Party Zone

Creative Use of Bottle Caps

Clearly, kids are still partying in the woods. They made a fire ring at a point in the trail that juts into the swamp. I will admit, if I was to pick a place to have a fire and hang out, I'd choose there. Unfortunately, it did look well used. Hopefully, no harm comes from it.

We hung out there for a while, making certain that Ansel and Lil' did not get cut up on the glass. We enjoyed our snacks and some water. The breeze certainly was picking up, so once snack was gone and I took a few photos we moved on.

Relaxing pooch

We followed the trail up to D1. There were some huge rocks along the trail. I definitely could not get a picture to show the enormity of them. Lil' Dude did some climbing and then we wandered along.

Giant rock

While wandering up to D1, Big Dude and I noticed that many of the trees had what appeared to be scorch marks on their trunks. We speculated about fires but thought we might have heard if there was a forest fire near us. Granted, it has been a few years since my last visit to this part of the woods. I hope the fire didn't start because of a forest party.

Fired damage or something else?

By the time we reached D1, Lil' Dude was tired and definitely wanted to be carried/not carried/carried/not carried. There was quite a bit of crying and grumping. Big Dude popped him in the carrier and we set back down Carney Road towards the junction with the Healthy Heart Trail.

Carney Road

Spruce Swamp from Carney Road

We found the junction and followed the Healthy Heart Trail through the woods back towards the parking lot. It was confusing because there were many turn offs that just weren't labeled well. Somehow we actually managed to choose the right paths.

Along the way we found a cluster of boulders that were larger than any of the ones we found earlier. I love finding glacial erratics in the woods. They looked like lots of fun to play on but the tired Lil' Dude needed to get back to the car.

Ginormous Rocks

We made it back to the parking lot and got Ansel and Lil' Dude into the car. There were a few more cars in the lot than when we showed up. We had parked in front of  a stone that was spray painted with the word Love on it. So I climbed up and took a baby bump shot. It's not often there is a picture of me on the blog as I'm behind the camera most of the time.

Love

I know I have displayed a lot of graffiti and trashing of the woods, but this is indeed a nice little forest with many walking trails. I've traveled through it several times over the years. The fact that it is so close to home is terrific for me. 

Where:  Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro State Forest, Trotting Park Road, Lowell, MA

On the web: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-north/lowell-dracut-tyngsboro-state-forest.html

Directions:

Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest is located in north-east Massachusetts.

From the South: Take Rt. 495 to Rt. 3 north. Follow Rt. 3 North to exit 32. Go right at the end of ramp, onto Drum Hill Rd. go 5 sets of lights you will cross over the Rourk Bridge. Go left at the lights on the other side of the bridge. Go 500 yards then take a right at lights onto Old Ferry Rd. Take a left onto Varnum Ave. After ½ mile, go right onto Trotting Park Rd. Parking lot is at the gate.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 2: Natural Bridge State Park

On Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend (yes, this post is grossly over due) we went to the Natural Bridge State Park in North Adams, MA. It's a 48-acre park that apparently Nathaniel Hawthorne spent some time in during the 1830's. It was a quarry for many years and a privately owned tourist attraction that only became a state park in 1985 The entrance is only a short distance from Clarksburg where we camped and very close to the hairpin turn on Rt. 2.

We arrived on a lovely sunny morning. On the drive in we passed a meadow in front of the marble cliffs. 

We quickly found the parking lot and the visitor center after a short twisty road. We paid our two dollar parking fee and unloaded dog and child. The trail was easy to find and well traveled.

Visitor Center

We walked down the path towards the outcropping of rocks. There were metal bridges and railings that contained the people from falling down. After crossing the dome, I could look down into the cliffs from a new angle.   

 

The ledge that we were standing on had lots of carved "graffiti" in the stone. Some of it was worn away but some was still legible. Big Dude and I switched off the dog leash so that I could go down the stairway to see the bridge.

I'm always in awe of how water carves and smooths stone. The colors under the bridge were greens and blues and browns. It was cool, as expected, due to the stream running through the rocks. I wandered dog free to explore the staging that was set up. There were still remains from the quarrying suspended over the water.

Then I snagged the dog leash and wandered over the un-natural bridge to find some of our friends. 

 

We watched a dog chasing a decoy for quite a while. "Annie" was a well trained dog who truly seemed to enjoy this game of fetch. She dashed into the stream over and over again, eager to find the decoy. While watching, Mel recognized a gentleman from a show that she, Big Dude and I had attended in the spring. He was a musician that played during the taping of "Says You" at Regis College. Have to say, she has a pretty good memory for faces. After watching Annie's antics for a bit, we crossed back over to the other side of the stream and a few of us had snacks at picnic tables near the banks of the stream. The kids ran around some and then we went back towards our cars. 

On the way, I spotted this marker near the visitor center. It's not that big only about a foot wide but it clearly gave the coordinates for where we were. 

We enjoyed our quick trip to the Natural Bridge. I've been to a few others (some that have collapsed even). While this one is not as impressive as the large ones that people can cross spanning oceans, the power of the water on stone is still amazing. I definitely would recommend it as a stop if you are out in the North Adams region.

Where:  Natural Bridge State Park, McCauley Road, off Rte. 8, North Adams, MA 01247

On the web: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/natural-bridge-state-park-generic.html

Directions:

From East or West/Rte. 2: Take MA Rte. 2 to North Adams and intersection with MA Rte. 8 north. Turn onto Rte. 8 north and continue for 0.5 miles to McCauley Road and park entrance on the left. Follow the dirt road; it soon becomes paved.

From North: From VT Rte. 8/100 at the Massachusetts-Vermont line, follow MA Rte. 8 south for 3 miles. Turn right on McCauley Road and park entrance. Follow the dirt road; it soon becomes paved.

From South/MassPike (I-90): Take Exit 2 in Lee and follow US Rte. 20 west to US Rte. 7 north to Williamstown for 31.7 miles. Take MA Rte. 2 east for 6.2 miles, through downtown North Adams to MA Rte. 8. Turn left onto Rte. 8 north and follow for 0.5 miles. Turn left onto McCauley Road and park entrance. Follow the dirt road; it soon becomes paved.

Midstate Trail Part 6

Well, last year was a terrible hiking year! 2011 is going to be so much better. Unfortunately, I have lots more free time as I lost my full-time job last month. Since then, I've been running more and getting out on the local trails. I pulled out my books a few days into unemployment and decided I'm going to start finishing some of these hiking lists I'm working on. SO we went off to the Midstate once again. This little guy was at the parking lot of Intervale Road in Rutland, where we would end our 12 mile trek.

In Massachusetts it had been raining for over a week so we were prepared for very wet trails. Saturday was the first partially sunny day and we were all itching to get outside. We started hiking from East Hill Road in Rutland and less than a mile in we found this really nice open shelter. Compared to the other shelters we'd already seen on the Midstate, we were very impressed with how well-kept it seemed.

Near the shelter we spotted one of many garter snakes sunning themselves near the trail. He was going to be disturbed very soon.

As we walked on towardsRt. 122 we encountered a large group of what appeared to be Boy Scouts heading in the direction of Treasure Valley. The looked like they had just started out with brand new backpacking gear and sleepy looks.

We crossed over Highway 122 and shed a layer of clothes while admiring the Mass. Central Rail Trail. Quickly we were swarmed by mosquitoes that seemed undeterred by deet. We all talked about bringing our bikes back to do some cycling but it was time for some hiking. As we re-entered the woods we discovered the first of our many water obstacles. It was easy enough to get over but deep enough to soak up to the knee.

As we continued to hike the sun started to peek out. We ran across a pair of women on horseback who commented on the buggy climate. Little did we know our bug misery would increase. When we reached Dike #3, we found that there had been recent work to the rail trail.

Then we entered a swampy woods. The map indicated that the swamp had been named Blood Swamp. It was more like Blood Sucker Swamp.

We pushed through as quickly as possible to avoid the bites, but it was slow going when the trail disappeared in the water. We found some interesting bridge rebuilding along the way.

As much as we were challenged with the dampness and the mosquitoes near the swamp, the frogs and toads were loving it!

Then we emerged from the swamp. It was like a breath of fresh air. There was a lovely grove of flowering trees and two granite benches in memorial for Bob Ellis and Rolf Larsen.

There was a nice couple from Worcester having a snack at the benches. We chatted with them and had a snack ourselves while overlooking the swamp. A gentle breeze kept the bugs away and the sun was out. They told us about Barre Falls Dam and how they came to discover this hidden jewel. They checked out the map book that I had from the Midstate Trail Committee. I looked at their map of the dam. They generously let us keep the map. We went on our way determined to lunch at the dam. We knew we were getting close when we found the old cemetery.

Then we found the picnic areas. We ate lunch while watching disc golfers play hole number 18. Then we pushed on. Here are a few pictures from the Barre Falls Dam.

We lost the trail briefly near hole 13 but found it after a little poking around. The blazes weren't as obvious here as the side of the road had overgrown some. We followed old roads through the woods and met up with a father and son fishing. They had just discovered this area as well and we all agreed it was terrific. The father told us that about 2 miles straight down the path is an old prison camp that looked interesting to explore. We, however, were turning to follow the yellow triangles.

For the most part the trail was dry. We worried about the warning in the guide book about high water conditions in this section of the trail. There were some wet and flooded trails but nothing worse than earlier in the day. It is amazing how after hiking 8 miles the last 4 can just drag! WE continued to make good time but managed to take in some of the forest as well. We did find these lovelies at the side of the trail.

Lady-Slippers were in abundance throughout this section. We followed old stonewalls that had stood through many winters and summers. There was some logging projects that we came across as well. Some of them, I'm sure, were to prevent the beetle infestation from spreading. The last bit of trail had a slight incline to it. We had our first accident here. Mel slipped and cut her hand on a rock. Minor injury but still not fun for her. Then as we hiked, there was the creepiness of following a trail of blood. Kev guessed that it was from a deer kill that had been hauled out on the trail. Ick! We eventually found our last cart road and Intervale Road.

I was so turned around at the end. In the morning, I thought we would come out on the other side of the trail. We managed to complete the 12 miles in 6 hours (with lunch and snack breaks). I'm super encouraged that there are only 3 sections left to hike. The next section will have one of the high points of this trail.