Distance: 3.59 milesElevation: 315 feetTime: 1 hour, 23 minutes
Hike Type: Lollipop Loop
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge 2024
First hike of 2024! I was trapped in Arlington until 8pm this night due to parent-teacher conferences, so I made use of the Middlesex Fells Reservation being so close and headed over for an afternoon hike. Right out of the car I could smell the woods which truly filled my soul, and then the loud call of an owl echoed through the trees. The trail from the Long Pond parking area climbed a few stairs, followed an old paved road, and then I turned left to follow the yellow blazes around an interpretive trail.
I do love an interpretive trail, even though it kind of take you out of the "one with nature" aspect. I find it fun to learn about the history and nature of the area. The trail was expectedly wet after the snow and rain, and there were MANY pinecones on the ground with trace remnants of ice.
It appeared that this area used to be blazed in pink, and then the trail comes up to Long Pond. Here, it got a bit confusing. It appears there was a reroute however many years ago - a spur trail skirts the edge of the pond with old yellow blazes, but the newer yellow blazes stay on the main trail. I took the spur, which led to a great view of the mostly-frozen pond.
I was bummed that I forgot my camera, but thankfully my new iPhone 14 Pro takes very nice photos. Heading away from Long Pond, I passed way too many doggy-poo bags, which was disappointing, and then passed another dog who did not have a strong recall or a leash, which was... a problem.
I wiggled my way over to the Reservoir Trail, which was a nice change of pace from the wide old roads I'd been hiking on. The terrain resembles the Skyline Trail, but its much gentler, nice and scenic without views, and had a squishy ground due to the wetness.
The Reservoir Trial got near the reservoir, but never close enough for a good photo. I'm still confused about the rules here - I saw people hiking on the trails that were marked "no access." Is it an informal no tresspassing? Is it a rule that people just ignore? I want to know becuase they look gorgeous but I don't want to tempt fate!
I eventually continued my way past a thousand grey squirrels and to the Skyline Trail. The sun was setting from behind the trees, which set a nice orange glow through the natural windows. Eventually, I made my way back to Molly's Spring Road, and then back to my car for conferences! It was a soft, but lovely start to the 2024 hiking year.
Long Pond Nature Trail Information (Kiosks I passed)The Long Pond Nature Trail
Several of the twelve stations on the nature trail present a natural community, an interdependent group of plants and animals that share environmental requirements and occur together in nature. Three stations offer examples of change following a disturbance: the cabin site, the Lightning Tree Window Path, and the secret garden. Two stations note differing responses in open, sunny locations. Two woodland stations, the pine and deciduous forests, explore differing forest ecosystems. The swamp, the vernal pool, and Long Pond present three contrasting water-based communities. This trail is also the subject of a small book, Brief Walking Guide to the Long Pond Nature Trail. Follow the yellow blazes along the trail.
#2 Meadow
A meadow is a sunny, moise, open area. If this meadow were not mowed every few years, it would quickly fill in with pioneer trees. In this sunny, damp area you will find many plants, including sedges, goldenrod, daisies, gill-over-the-ground, and dandelions. These plants, as do all green plants, use photosynthesis to make their own food from sunlight. Meadow voles, shrews, crickets, and many other insects make their homes here. Earthworms tunnel underground, aerating the soft soil. The plants and creatures in this natural community depend upon each other for food, shelter, and pollination.
#3 Pine Forest
In 1900-1920, these pines were planted on what was then an open sunny rise. Now, these tall pines shade the forest floor and admit too little sun for new pines to flourish. The Canada mayflower, a small plant with heart-shaped leaves, white flowers, and red berries, is one of the few plants which tolerates the shade and the acid soil created by the disintegrating pine needles. In addition to light and moisture, components of soil help determine which plants will thrive in an area.
#4 Tennis Court
In the early 1900s a tennis court was secretly built here in an era when sports play on Sundays was discouraged. Although the plants are trimmed back only occasionally, the growth in the open area is quite sparse. While star grass and bluets have taken hold, the clay base may still impede easy growth of more deep-rooted seedlings. Encircling the site you will see several different species of trees and shrubs. Near this sign, look for the bristly locust, a shrub with bristly seed pods and stems and delicate pinkish-purple flowers blooming in late spring.
#5 Deciduous Woodland Path
The deciduous trees of the oak/hickory forest support a community of creatures which rely on this forest for their food and shelter. A forest has horizontal layers; each layer has its own habitat and inhabitants. Oaks and hickories dominate the sunny canopy, providing food and shelter for gray squirrels and blue jays. Saplings of trees found in the canopy and small trees such as the hop hornbeam and sassafras grow in the light-dappled understory. Hop hornbeams can be recognized by the loose, thin strips of bark on their trunks. Beneeath the understory is the shrub layer; low-bush blueberry and wildflowers grow close to the ground.
#6 The Pond
Take the narrow path to your left out to the end of the peninsula. That is a good place for observing life in Long Pond. Look for painted turtles sunning themselves on logs, as well as polliwogs, frogs, and mallard ducks. On the surface of the pond, note green algae and the broad leaves of water lillies; they offer shelter and food for the aquatic creatures in the pond. Different horizontal levels in the pond afford different habitats, whether on the surface of the water, on underwater stems and leaves, or in mud and organic debris on the bottom.
Drab, wingless insects, in their nymph stages, live in the mud at the pond bottom an dlater emerge as colorful dragonflies an ddamselflies which dart and hover over the pond. These insects form an important link in the pond food chain by eating mosquitoes and in turn may become a tasty morsel for a bullfrog. Every plant and creature is part of a food web made up on many different food chains.
#7 The Swamp
Beyond the small outflow pipe from the pond, the water spreads and creates a wetland. Several decades ago, the area was a sunny, wet marsh with cattails and other sun-loving plants. Because of the growth of trees and shrubs, this wetland has now changed to a shady, wet swamp.
A noticeable plant in this swamp is the skunk cabbage with its large, broad, green leaves. Its tiny flowers bloom very early in the spring within a purple hood. The strong odor of the flowers attracts insects to pollinate them.
Red maple is a dominant tree in many swamps in New England. It buds, flowers, seeds, twigs, and fall leaves are red. Its seeds are eaten by chipmunks and a few birds, while its leaves are food for many insects.
#9 Indian Lookout Rock
From the top of the rock, enjoy the view across the Town of Winchester. Imagine Native Americans in the 1630s looking across the valley which was their home. Their last leader, a female sachem, sold this land to the English settlers in 1639.
During the great Ice Age 20,000 years ago, the surface of this granite bedrock was both rounded and deeply grooved by frozen rocks in the underside of the massive, moving glacier. These grooves, or striations, are oriented northwest to southeast, which is the direction in which the mass of ice pressed southward as it grew. Even now, after thousands of years and weathering of these surfaces, we can still feel the long, shallow grooves on the rocky slope. On the grassy side of the slope, the rock is still rough were the glacier plucked pieces away.
Step-By-Step
- Park at Long Pond parking area.
- Enter woods on path.
- At B4-3, turn left onto Molly's Spring Road (yellow dot).
- At B4-2, turn left to continue to follow yellow dots.
- At B4-1, turn right to continue to follow yellow dots.
- At B3-11, turn left onto Cranberry Pool Path (yellow dots).
- After B3-10, turn right onto unmapped path with some yellow dots along Lond Pond.
- At terminus, turn right onto Cranberry Pool Path (yellow dots).
- At B3-8, turn left onto path to follow yellow dots.
- At B3-10, turn left onto Cranberry Pool Path (yellow dots).
- Continue to follow yellow dots to Hillcrest Parkway.
- Continue to follow yellow dots to B3-3.
- At B3-3 turn left onto Wyman Path.
- At B3-5, turn right onto path.
- Continue straight onto Reservoir Trail.
- At B5-3, turn right onto trail.
- At B5-2, turn right onto Mountain Bike Loop.
- At B4-14, turn right onto Skyline Trail.
- At B4-4, turn left onto Molly's Spring Road.
- At B4-3, turn left to return to car.
