Burns Hill Extended Loop (Westford Conservation Trust)
Hike Type: Lollipop Loop-Loop
Distance: 2.88 miles
Elevation: 381 feet
My Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Book Time: 1 hour, 37 minutes
Parking: Very limited roadside parking (unclear if even allowed).
Hiking Challenges: N/A
Hiking Challenges: N/A
The Hike
Second to last normal Tuesday hike of the year! Just kidding! It's the LAST ONE! We're celebrating Band O'Ween next Tuesday, so I won't get my hike in! It was a BEAUTIFUL afternoon in the mid 60s and the trees were an absolutely stunning yellow. Naturally, a minute into the hike my Burt's Bees fell out of my pocket and immediately blended in with the leaves, but I was able to find it. My lungs were a little mad with the changing seasons, but they adjusted. The power cut was wonderfully sunny and warm, the last set of wires were NOT buzzing today, and I made my way onto the loop!
I never realized that an old road cut across the trail at Low Point #1. I was feeling in the mood for a little adventure, so I turned OFF of the Burns Hill Trail at Low Point #2! There was a piece of flagging tape and a blue blaze marking another path. There were enough flags and blazes to get me around, but there was simply no footbed. Maybe because of the leaves? I was intrigued!
The blue trail opened up to the power cut and crossed a stone wall just after. No blazes to be found, and the trail felt like nothing more than just a deer path. There was ONE piece of flagging tape on a tree that helped. There were also many blue jays, which I guess helped because they matched the trail?
The trail joined the power cut access road, which also felt wrong. The trail narrowed again and crossed an area of denser growth with a single piece of blue flagging tape. Just a bit further I saw another path with a red disc - I decided to turn here since it seemed it would lead me to the trail up Burns Hill... hopefully!
Okay there were more red discs afterwards so I was doing SOMETHING right! I followed these discs back into the woods onto a new trail that had a mixture of orange and red blazes and white discs. The orange paint was the best becuase it featured arrows. This mish-mosh of a trail was fascinating!
I crossed over a couple of footbridge on something at resembled more of a trail before crossing a seasonal brookbed on a bigger bridge. I came to a signed split in the trail - Burns Hill was up on the left and the Beaver Ponds Loop on the right. I was sure curious about the ponds, but I decided to stick to what I know.
The trail was now blazed in blue going up Burns Hill, and after a very short moderate climb orange blazes joined again. I would love it if the town standardized the trails and came out with a useable map!
Near the top there was a confusing series of blue arrows marking another trail that went steeply down the hill with no discernable footpath? I hit 1.0 miles right at the "summit" bench, though, and it was nice to be back in familiar territory! I happily hiked down the spine and started my wiggle down to Low #3. The rise out of Low #3 was spectacularly golden now!
I opted for a more tradition Lap #2, and naturally at Top #2 I realized I didn't have my keys with me... hopefully they're in my car... I spooked a deer at Low #3 and got a golden star on my New York Times Midi Crossword! I did the thing I always do where I step on a stick with one foot and nearly stab my other one with it on my hike out.
I was happy to see my car still there. I didn't notice any keys on the ground on my hike out. The doors opened and the car started... but where are my keys?! They ended up being buried underneath who knows what... it took me a full five minutes to find them! With relief, I drove over to marching band.
Step-by-Step
- Start hike on Burns Hill Conservation Area Trail.
- After power cut, turn right onto Burns Hill Loop.
- At jct., turn right onto Blue Trail (easy to miss).
- Follow path into power cut, continue carefully.
- At jct., turn left onto Red-Disc Trail.
- At jct., turn left onto Orange/White Trail.
- At jct., continue onto Blue Trail.
- At Burns Hill, continue onto yellow-blazed Burns Hill Loop.
- At completion of loop, hike a second loop using only Burns Hill Loop.
- At completion of second loop, turn right and return to car.
Photo Album
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