“Walpole Walks 2010”

     The Walpole Conservation Commission invites you to explore conservation lands and special places in Walpole. Please join us, rain or shine!  Each walk will meet at Walpole Common 15 minutes before start time for carpooling.

Sat. July 10th, 9 - 11 AM:  Mill Pond Conservation Area

Once a power supply for mills and a source of ice for refrigeration, today the Mill Pond is a beautiful wildlife sanctuary with 1.3 miles of winding trail though upland and floodplain forests and to a beaver pond.  Walkers can find beavers, bullfrogs, waterfowl, warblers, wildflowers and several of Walpole’s largest trees.  This walk will be led by Walpole Conservation Commission Member Marcia Galloway.  The 86-acre preserve is located on Main St. north of Walpole Center.

Sat. July 31st, 9 - 11 AM: Trombley Forest

Explore the high country of Walpole at the Trombley Town Forest (Monadnock Conservancy easement) and High Blue (SPNHF).  This will be a moderately strenuous walk on a loop that will take about 1 ½ - 2 hours to complete.  There are views to the east from Monadnock to Sunapee and views to the west that extend to the western edge of Vermont!  We will also pass over the highest point in Walpole.  The walk will be led by Walpole Conservation Commission Member Lew Shelly.

Sat. September 25th, 9 - 11 AM: Boggy Meadow Oxbow

Boggy Meadow provides a wonderful example of an oxbow long since abandoned by the Connecticut River. Tom Beaudry of the Walpole Conservation Commission and Eloise Clark of the Hooper Institute will lead this walk along an old carriage road laid out by Fanny Mason in the early 1900s around the perimeter of the swamp.  The route approaches the embankment for the old railroad bed and passes along the edge of the Fanny Mason Forest.  This relatively easy walk is mostly flat and there may be a few wet places, so consider wearing boots. 

For more information, contact Marcia Galloway @ 756-3604 or Lew Shelley @ 756-3640