Walden Pond State Reservation: Pond Path (Blog Hike #542)

Trail: Pond Path

Hike Location: Walden Pond State Reservation

Geographic Location: east side of Concord, MA (42.44079, -71.33458)

Length: 1.9 miles

Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)

Date Hiked: August 2015

Overview: A circumnavigation of the world’s most famous kettle pond.

Park Information: https://www.mass.gov/locations/walden-pond-state-reservation

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=729298
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: In suburban Boston, take SR 2 to SR 126.  This intersection is located 4.5 miles west of I-95 or 10.5 miles east of I-495.  Go south on SR 126.  The state reservation entrance is on the left 0.4 miles south of SR 2.  Turn left to enter the reservation, and park in any of the large blacktop parking lots.

The hike: The date was July 4, 1845 when the author, philosopher, historian, and Concord, MA native Henry David Thoreau went “into the woods.”  For the next two years he planned to practice subsistence living in a small self-built cabin.  Thoreau had built the cabin on a plot of land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson located adjacent to Walden Pond.  Thoreau’s goal was to confront “only the essential facts of life” and therefore learn what nature had to teach.  The result of this endeavor was the writing Walden, a memoir published in 1854 that would become Thoreau’s most famous work.

            Geologically speaking, Walden Pond is a glacial kettle pond, or a body of water that formed at the end of the last ice age by runoff from retreating glaciers.  New England has many kettle ponds, and Walden Pond does not particularly stand out in terms of size or scenic value.  Thus, the Thoreau connection gives Walden Pond its claim to fame.

            What you think of Walden Pond when you leave depends a lot on what you are expecting when you arrive.  If you come expecting the wilderness experience Thoreau had over 150 years ago, then you will leave disappointed.  Walden Pond today lies in suburban Boston, so the sounds of voices, cars, trains, and airplanes are ever-present.  On the other hand, if you arrive expecting a nice pondside woodland walk in a suburban setting, then you will leave quite content.

            Several trails access more remote corners of the reservation, but the Pond Path described here remains the reservation’s most popular and famous trail.  A bookstore operated on-site by the Thoreau Society gives you an opportunity to purchase literary works and other items, and a new expanded Visitor Center was under construction when I came here in August 2015.  Also, be aware that due to this reservation’s location and popularity, the large parking lot tends to fill on warm weather days.  The reservation closes to new entrants when the lot fills, so try to arrive early in the morning to avoid this inconvenience.

Thoreau cabin replica

            Start at the replica of Thoreau’s cabin, which is located near the parking area and beside SR 126.  This cabin is only a replica, and it does not sit on the original cabin’s site, which you will visit later in the hike.  As you would expect given Thoreau’s mission, the one-room cabin with two windows and a brick chimney is purely functional.  Imagine living in accommodations such as these during a New England winter.

State reservation entrance

            From the cabin, walk southwest and carefully cross busy SR 126 on the crosswalk provided.  Follow the paved path as it curves left and descends to arrive at Walden Pond’s main beach.  As you would expect in suburban Boston, this beach gets very crowded on warm summer days.  The main beach is also the start of the Pond Path, which encircles the pond.  As directed by a sign, I chose to turn right and hike counterclockwise around the pond.

            The Pond Path heads west with Walden Pond 20 feet downhill to the left and the hillside rising to the right.  Wire fences lining either side of the trail made me feel like a cow in a corral, but they are designed to protect the surrounding habitat by keeping people on the designated trail.  Ignore some side trails that exit right and lead further from the pond.

Walking between wire fences

            At 0.5 miles, the trail curves right as you approach Thoreau’s Cove.  Thoreau’s Cove is the largest of five separate coves that jut out from otherwise oblong-shaped Walden Pond.  The pond’s size is deceptive: though only 61 acres in area and 1.7 miles in circumference, parts of the pond are over 100 feet deep.

Wyman Meadow

            After crossing a pond inlet on a wooden footbridge, you pass Wyman Meadow, a wet meadow covered in tall green-stemmed plants.  On the other side of the meadow, the side trail to Thoreau’s cabin site exits right.  Take a brief detour from the Pond Path by turning right to visit the historic cabin site.

            At the top of a brief uphill climb, you reach the site where Thoreau’s actual cabin stood.  Of the original cabin, only some stones from the foundation remain.  The stones are surrounded by modern granite pillars and metal chains, which give the area a monument-type feel.  The historic cabin site is a popular place despite the fact that it sits in a clearing in the woods, and it provides another opportunity to ponder on Thoreau’s experiences.

Thoreau's cabin site

            Past the historic site, you could go back to the Pond Path and turn right.  Alternatively, if you are tired of walking between wire fences, there is another trail that leads west higher up the hillside and further from the pond.  I chose to go back to the Pond Path, and I was rewarded by seeing a family of mallard ducks enjoying the gravel pondside area.  On either route the crowds will thin after you pass the historic site.

Walden Pond

            At 0.8 miles, the trail climbs slightly to head around Ice Fort Cove and arrive beside the MBTA Fitchburg commuter rail line.  The rail line lies less than 100 feet from the pond, so all westbound trails come together here.  The Pond Path angles left to tread the narrow strip of land between the rail line on the right and the pond downhill to the left.

            After passing around Long Cove, you reach the south side of the lake, where the trail forks.  The trail going straight leads to Heywood’s Meadow, another wet meadow similar to Wyman Meadow, and Emerson’s Cliff, the highest land in the reservation.  This hike turns left to remain on the Pond Path.  Now heading eastbound, the pond stays in view to the left for the remainder of the hike.

Rounding Little Cove

            The trail undulates gently as it passes first around Little Cove and then around Deep Cove.  Deep Cove contains the pond’s canoe/kayak launch, and the boat launch parking lot lies just to the right.  Soon you approach the main beach, which marks the closing of the Pond Path loop.  Angle right on the main paved entrance trail and re-cross SR 126 to return to the parking lot and complete the hike.

Rhododendron State Park (Blog Hike #541)

Trails: Wildflower and Rhododendron Loop Trails

Hike Location: Rhododendron State Park

Geographic Location: southeast of Keene, NH (42.78155, -72.18985)

Length: 0.7 miles

Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)

Date Hiked: August 2015

Overview: A flat loop through a dense rhododendron grove.

Park Information: https://www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/rhododendron-state-park/

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=941468
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Keene, take SR 12 south 10.9 miles to SR 119 and turn sharply right on SR 119.  Drive SR 119 0.9 miles to Rhododendron Road and turn right on Rhododendron Rd.  Drive Rhododendron Rd. 2 miles to the signed park entrance on the right.  Turn right on the gravel park entrance road, pass a signed historic cottage on the left, and park at the cul de sac at the end of the road.

The hike: The historical core of Rhododendron State Park lies in the small wooden cottage you passed on your drive in.  Known as Old Patch Place, the cottage was built by either Captain Samuel Patch or his son between 1790 and 1818.  The cottage changed ownership several times before 1865, when it became the headquarters of a mail-order business that sold potted rhododendrons among other items.  This business first brought the majestic rhododendrons that live here to the public’s attention.

            In 1901, the land was scheduled to be lumbered until Miss Mary Lee Ware of Boston purchased the land to save the rhododendrons.  In 1903, Miss Ware donated the land to the Appalachian Mountain Club, which in turn transferred it to the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation in 1946.  The Old Patch Place was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and the rhododendron grove was added to the list of National Natural Landmarks in 1982.

            The park remains lightly developed, and the 16 acre rhododendron grove remains the focal point.  The park’s main trail is the short 0.6 mile handicapped accessible Rhododendron Loop Trail that tours the rhododendron grove, but the adjoining 0.3 mile Wildflower Trail, maintained by the Fitzwilliam Garden Club, also provides a nice walk.  A more difficult 1 mile one-way trail leads to the summit of Little Monadnock, a nearby mountain also within the park’s boundaries, and connects with the long-distance Metacomet-Monadnock Trail.  This hike combines parts of the two shorter trails to give a nice, fairly flat tour of the rhododendron grove.

Start of Rhododendron Loop Trail

            Both ends of the Rhododendron Loop Trail leave the parking area.  This description starts at the western end with the picnic area and toilets on the right.  It seemed odd to me to have a picnic table right beside a pit toilet, but such is this park’s layout. 

The wide Rhododendron Loop Trail heads west around a large boulder into a dark hemlock forest.  Very quickly you reach the first area of rhododendron.  When I hiked here in early August, all of the rhododendron had already bloomed, leaving just the leaves and stems.  Come in early to mid-July for the height of the rhododendron bloom.  Also, in the summer the park maintains a bloom update on its webpage.  I had missed the last blooms by a couple of weeks.

Bloomed-out rhododendron

In less than 0.1 miles you reach a junction.  If you only wanted to hike the Rhododendron Loop Trail, you would turn right here.  To see some additional wildflowers on the Wildflower Trail, turn left to briefly leave the rhododendron grove. An information board says that the Wildflower Trail was constructed in memory of Betty Myrick, 1915-1989.

Hiking the Wildflower Trail

The trail heads west before curving right to head north along the base of Little Monadnock Mountain.  A creek gurgles just downhill to the left.  I did not see many wildflowers on this trail, but I did see a lot of mountain laurel, which looks much like rhododendron except for its smaller leaves and different flower.

Just past 0.3 miles, you pass through a break in an old stone wall to rejoin the Rhododendron Loop Trail, which goes straight and right.  Continue straight to hike the full loop.  After curving slightly right, you cross a recently replaced wooden footbridge and enter the core of the rhododendron grove.  You will be surrounded by white flowers if you come here at the peak of the bloom.

Entering the rhododendron core

At 0.5 miles, the rougher Little Monadnock Trail exits left for its namesake hill.  This description stays right to remain on the fairly flat Rhododendron Loop Trail.  Now heading south, you quickly reach another trail junction, where a left turn is needed for the shortest route back to the parking area.  Another 0.1 miles through more hemlocks and rhododendron return you to the parking lot to complete the hike.