Past Groton Family Hikes

The purpose of this page is to provide some additional information on a hike you've been on, or to give you a general flavor of what these hikes are about.  I'd like to supply reference information here about the various places we've visited.  Please Send me email if you know of something that should be mentioned or linked to here. 

Shepley Hills, 21 October 2001

Millstone Hill and old quarry, 30 September 2001

Squannacook River, 25 March 2001

Throne Hill, 4 March 2001

Harry Rich State Forest, 19 November 2000

Shepely Hills, 15 October 2000

This is the annual fall foliage special.  We had nice weather once again. 

Indian Hill, 17 September 2000

Snake Hills, 9 July 2000

Skitapet Conservation Area, 4 June 2000

If you didn't come on this hike, you missed out on seeing millions of mosquitos close up and personal.  They were as thick as I have ever seen them in Groton. 

Harry Rich State Forest, 19 December 1999

Town Forest, 14 November 1999

Although rain threatened, the weather held out and we had lunch overlooking the dead river.  (It was nicer than that sounds). 

Shepley Hills, 17 October 1999

This has become an annual event.  As usual, the area was beautiful with the leaves at peak foliage. 

Beaver Prowl special event, 25 September 1999.

We toured beaver sites in Hayes Woods, Burnt Meadow Pond, MIT lands, and the Cronin/Massapoad conservation area.  Unfortunately we didn't see a single beaver, even though we were at the MIT beaver site at the same time that beaver had come out several times the previous week.  At least we got to see three deer cross Cow Pond Brook Road on the way home. 

Snake Hills Area, 4 July 1999.

Nice hike and pretty woods, but lots of mosquitos.  They were especially bad after we came down the eastern Snake Hill on the trail past the swamp on the way to Halfmoon Road.  Fortunately, the weather was great for the 4th of July barbecue afterwards. 

I'd like to know more about the unusual ant hills on top of the eastern Snake hill.  If anyone has any information on these, please let me know. 

Massapoag Pond and Millstone Hill (To the dump and beyond!) 6 June 1999.

Another gorgeous day, which helped when we came out on some road in Tyngsboro instead of at the quarry as intended. 

Groton, Littleton, Ayer corner area, 16 May 1999

This was a beautiful day for a hike.  We finally found the earlier stages of the brown oak galls that we always find the rest of the year.  These were still green and soft.  We even found a few small twigs with leaves with galls attached, so we know they were definitely coming from the oak trees. 

NEFF Wharton Plantation, Rocky Hill Section, 21 March 1999.

Turnout was low because there was no notice in the paper for some reason, but several regulars showed up.  There seemed to be no herons at the roockery yet, but we did get to see two bluebirds flying about.  We also got a rare chance to see a cross section of a beaver dam.  The dam was blocking a road and was in the process of being removed. 

Bertozzi Squannacook Wildlife Management Area, 28 Feb 1999

We had great turnout for this tromp thru the snow, and yes, this time I got the long loop right.  Along the river we found a number of small (1/4 to 1 inch diameter) branches with the bark knawed off.  This had clearly been done by beavers, but the wierd thing was we found these branches 3 to 5 feet above the river level on the banks.  There were no other immediate signs of beaver activity around, like felled trees, knawed stumps, and beaver paths.  If the beavers just came to eat and left, why weren't there any signs of where the branches had been cut from? If the sticks washed up from upstream, how did they get over the bank on the flat area surrounding the river? It didn't look like the area had flooded that high. 

Genthner Woods and surrounding area, 24 January 1999

Despite the rain, we had four people.  We saw the remains of the old mill on Nate Nutting Road, the beaver dam accross the road from it, and the Matisse Bells.  It was raining lightly for most of the hike, then started pouring just as we got back to the cars.  The timing couldn't have been better. 

McClain Woods, Fitch Woods, December 1998

This was a simple walk in the woods that wouldn't have been possible just a year earlier before Fitch Woods became a Groton Conservation Trust property.  Fitch Woods can be accessed from Chicopee Row via the old Mahoney Lane right of way.  It also abuts the older GCT McClain Woods conservation area.  A small connector trail was recently built to allow a loop walk thru both conservation areas, which is what we did, in addition to checking out the spur to Chicopee Row.  This must be very close to the new High School site on the Walker land, but nobody seemed sure of the relative layout. 

We were also accompanied by Gracie, a very friendly little bundle of energy just a few months old.  She's a mix of german shepheard and mutt with a great temperment.  She liked playing with sticks, but didn't understand the briging back part of playing fetch yet. 

Westford Audubon, November 1998

Shepley Hills, October 1998

This was the first hike we did back in October 1996, and the repeat was no dissappointment.  Once again we had perfect weather.  A horse event was going on there at the same time, and two of the event staff people hiked with us to make sure there weren't any problems.  Things worked out fine, and we even got to see a horse jump over a barrier. 

Tophet Chasm and Oak Hill, Littleton, September 1998

This hike was only sparsely attended, perhaps because the time was accidentally not listed in the Groton Herald.  However, it was a beautiful day and it was really nice sitting high on the ledges while eating lunch. 

NEFF Wharton Plantation, Badacook Section, August 1998

We actually did a little swimming in Badacook Pond.  The bottom was much firmer than I expected, although there were lots of water plants.  Still, quite refreshing on a hot day.  We also ran accross a hawk that had just caught a duck.  The hawk didn't seem too pleased about us interrupting his lunch, but I'm sure he got back to it after we continued on. 

NEFF Wharton Plantation, Burnt Meadow Section, July 1998

Unfortunately, the vegetation had grown around the beaver dam so much that it was hard to see and therefore didn't look as impressive as it actually is.  Click on the title to see a picture taken earlier in the year. 

Duck Pond and Skinner Forest, July 1997

These conservation lands are owned by the Groton Conservation Trust. 

Groton Place and Sabine Woods, June 1997

These conservation lands are owned by the New England Forestry Foundation.  Unfortunately, the Groton School refused us premission to hike accross their land to make a bigger loop. 

Indian Hill, May 1997

This hike would have been accross the Bates and Blackman lands of the Groton Conservation Trust.  Nobody showed up due to bad weather, and a failure on the publicity end. 

Skitapet, April 1997

The Skitapet conservation land (behind the Lost Lake fire station) is owned by the Groton Conservation Trust.  Skitapet is an old indian word, which stands for SKInner, TAplin, and PETerson(?), the three families that owned the land many years ago.  I may not have this exactly right. 

Hayes Woods, March 1997

This conservation land is owned by the Groton Conservation Trust.  This is probably the best place to see beaver dams and other signs of beaver activity.  None of the dams are as large as the one backing up Burnt Meadow Pond, but the sheer number of them in such a little area is impressive.  In one section, the beavers have effectively terraced a small stream.  A bit further down, they built a dam just above the trail and then constructed an impressive lodge on the pond within clear view of the trail. 

Squannacook, Bertozzi Wildlife Management Area, February 1997

These lands are owned by the state.  We had a nice time, even though I screwed up and took a wrong turn so we didn't get to walk next to the ice encrusted Squannacook River for as long.  We'll try this again, and hopefully I'll get it right next time. 

Tophet Chasm, Oak Hill, December 1996

Nobody showed up due to bad weather, so we're trying again in September 1998. 

Throne Hill, November 1996

This conservation land is owned by the Groton Conservation Trust.  It is a reasonably large contiguous chunk of land abutting other lands open to the public.  It's a nice walk although there is nothing remarkable about the land, except for the unusually high abundance of mosquitos. 

Shepley Hills, October 1996

This conservation land is owned by the Groton Conservation Trust.  We all had such a good time doing this hike that we're doing it again in September 1998. 

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