With its cooler temperatures and the promise of colorful
foliage, fall is the perfect time to explore some of the wonderful trails in
our region.
Last
Saturday, our family decided to celebrate the autumnal equinox by exploring
Black Brook Preserve in the center of Windham. Managed by the Windham Land
Trust, this 105-acre gem of trails and wildlife habitat is easy to locate and a
delight to hike.
As
soon as we parked at the trailhead, both our little assistants decided to hike
the trail in “run mode,” as opposed to the slower and more
adult-friendly “walk mode.” They took off down the trail at a sprint, leaving
the adults panting in their wake.
Happily,
we quickly discovered that the trails in Black Brook Preserve are absolutely
perfect for children. There are plenty of hills that are large enough to be
fun, but not big enough to wear out little legs. The paths themselves twist and
wind just enough to keep kids interested, and the packed dirt of the trail is
frequently interrupted by bridges, which range from split logs laid across the
muddy patches to beautiful wooden structures complete with hand railings. These
bridges seemed to occur whenever our littlest hiker started to lag and crossing
them was often enough fun to encourage him to agree with his big sister’s
plan to continue “run mode.”
 |
| Ian and Sage Bizier |
Black
Brook Preserve contains several miles of hiking trails, which are all named and
clearly marked with trail blazes. Even better, there is a map of the entire
preserve posted at each trail junction. After pausing for water, snacks, and a
climb on an enormous glacial erratic boulder - the children told us it was a “kids
only” boulder - we consulted the nearest map.
“Let’s
take the long way,” my eight-year-old decided.
“Are
you sure?” I asked. “That’s two and half miles.”
But
the two children had already taken off in “run mode,” leaving my husband
and I trying our best to catch them.
Fortunately,
the preserve also includes several signs identifying flora or fauna as well as
lovely wooden benches. We caught up with the children at one sign, where our
eight-year-old explained she was teaching her little brother to identify a
hemlock tree. After another long hill, the entire family stopped by a bench to
watch a female downy woodpecker climb and peck along the trunk of a white pine.
Our four-year-old was absolutely delighted by the noise and mess of the
woodpecker’s work, and the woodpecker was undeterred by his shrieks of
admiration. When the woodpecker finally moved on, my eight-year-old turned to
me with quite the compliment:
“That
was cool, Mom.”
The
long way, also called the Boundary Trail and marked with blue blazes, leads
along the perimeter of Black Brook Preserve before crossing a large, open
field. This meadow gave us a chance to scan the woods for signs of changing
foliage, and our assistants each spotted small garter snakes in the grass and
monarch butterflies visiting the flowers.
Although
we managed to avoid a full hiking melt down, we did hear the dreaded “My
legs are tired” at the edge of the meadow. Luckily, there was another exciting
bridge waiting for us as soon as we re-entered the forest. The promise of
crossing a very cool bridge was enough to make our four-year-old decide he wanted
to hike by himself after all. Spotting another garter snake on the far side of
the bridge also helped his spirits, although he decided not to join his big
sister in a final “run mode” to the parking lot.
She
sprinted ahead of us as the first brilliant red leaves of the season drifted to
the forest floor. By the time my husband and I caught up with her, she was
sitting on a bench at the trail head, staring at the map.
“I
can’t believe we hiked all that way!” she said, tracing the Boundary Trail with
her fingers.
If
you want to explore the kid friendly trails and bridges of Black Brook Nature
Preserve, there is a convenient parking lot off Windham Center Road just south
of Route 4. As always, even in the fall, I highly recommend sunscreen and bug
spray in addition to water and snacks.
No comments:
Post a Comment