Conservation Property – Walking in the Woods

A November walk.

We got out of the house around 10 and headed over to Lincoln to explore Adams Woods, a Lincoln Land Conservation property. It is about 100 acres in size and borders Walden Pond. The first challenge was finding a trailhead access point and a place where we could park the car. Talking to a guy raking leaves I find out it was just behind the sign that says “No Parking.” Once that was all behind us, and we got the boy in his carrier and on our back, we were on our way.

the boy and the trail — Walden Pond in the background

It was a beautiful fall day and the property, and the trails, were just great. The center of Adams Woods is fairly flat and level but around the edges there are some ups and downs around various water related features. To the south, and along what is roughly the boundary, is a trail that runs along what is called Heywood’s Brook. It ends at a meadow, which in turn looks out over Fairhaven Bay. To the northwest are Andromeda Ponds. These are a series of bog ponds that Thoreau visited and wrote about in his journal. This was not a far walk for Thoreau as the ponds and this property border the southwestern edge of Walden Pond.

There were a number of horses out and about on the trails, and even more runners, but all of our encounters with others were pleasant. The various water bodies and the related topography associated with them were really great. The New England woods in autumn are interesting enough but with all the leaves off the trees you could really see into some nice brooks, wetlands, and the bogs.

Some of the reading I did about Adams Woods in the “Guide to Conservation Land in Lincoln” says that things look much different here in the past. The small meadow stretched along the whole length of Heywood’s Brook, for instance. It is also sure that this being Massachusetts that the forest throughout here has been reworked in many ways. This includes Thoreau and a friend starting a forest fire when they were cooking some fish.

Where:

Lexington, MA

What:

Town of Lexington Conservation Property

Size:

170 acres

Access:

The intersection of Allen Street and Pitcairn Place, Lexington.

The back of the ballfield behind the Bowman School, Lexington.

Features:

The conservators of the property include the following information about the property:

Dunback Meadow is the largest Conservation Property in Lexington. Clematis Brook flows through this property, eventually emptying into Beaver Brook in Belmont. The property’s diversified landscape consists of an extensive open meadow, red pine grove, community gardens, and a red maple swamp. From the time Lexington was settled, a section of this area was known as the Hunting Swamp, and it has included a portion where peat was cut for fuel, where cows were pastured, and where hay was cut.

There are maps and photos found towards the end of this post.

A July 2009 visit

I spent an early afternoon, coming into the property from the Allen Street access. There is no parking lot but you can park along the side of the road. A small wooden sign marks the entrance. The trail went downhill from the road and then skirted the edge of the community garden area. Continuing down the trail led through an area with high, dense brush. Following along on the northeast section of the trail led to the edge of a large wet meadow. The vegetation was largely high grass and other herbaceous plants, including lots of milkweed.

We eventually made our way to a second public access point for Dunback Meadow, which is located at the back of the Clarke Middle School ballfield. The trail crossed across a number of boardwalk areas and skirted along the edge of the meadow. We briefly talked to another person that come through on his bicycle. The gentleman told us he thought he had seen a fisher on the property a few weeks earlier.

Doubling back along our route, we then ventured into the wooded portion of the property. We crossed a small waterway and some old and new boardwalk areas of the trail. The mosquitoes were out in abundance in the woods, as we expected, and we did not dally long on this part of our trip.

The visit ended with our heading out of the woods, and up the hill to the street where our cars were parked.

Maps

a hand drawn map of the area that contains the Dunback Meadow

Topographic map of the area that contains the Dunback Meadow

This map is upside down in comparison to the hand drawn map just above it. The approximate location of the two official entrances and a third unofficial entrance are marked by the hikers in red.