Posted By auntie on November 16, 2015

7.3 miles; mendon, ma

before we moved to the southeast corner of connecticut, the hubs and i lived in a little town in central massachusetts called mendon. it’s not off any highway, so practically nobody knows where it is. i got so tired of the usual response to the question, “where do you live?” that i started calling it “mendonwherezat.”

today i met my friend “m” for another of our usual short/long hikes, this time through my old back yard in mendonwherezat—literally, my old back yard.

boy scout cabin

we started on a mendon town property called meadow brook woods. this short loop trail goes by a restored boy scout cabin.

lovely bog bridges

i’m told that those same scouts who restored the cabin also built some impressive bridges sturdy enough for horses to use. you can see there are concrete footings. [UPDATE: the BSTRA (Bay State Trail Riders association) built the bridges over the brooks, not the Boy Scouts.]

inman pond

after my friend left, i retraced our steps through meadow brook woods, only this time i took the path by inman pond. it was a lovely day out.

bugs canoodling

in fact, it was so nice out that this couple decided to do a little canoodling by the pond.

cormier woods kiosk

the meadow brook woods trail complex connects to a trustees of the reservation property called cormier woods. they have a very nice kiosk and parking area, and excellent signage. in fact, the signage throughout this hike was exceptional.

and this is also the first time i ran across the phenomenon of one of the neighbors taking a leaf blower (!) to the trail to clear the leaves. this is just wrong on so many levels… noise pollution, air pollution, making the trails vulnerable to erosion… even so, a little part of me was kind of happy to walk on cleared trails where i could see rocks and roots coming instead of tripping and stumbling my way along. still, it’s sooo wrong.

i had intended to include the mendon town forest on this hike, but i ran out of time and energy, so i guess i’ll be back. i understand there are some interesting rock carvings (colonial era) on that property.

i have not added this hike to the hikefinder, but you can find information and a trail map on meadow brook woods here, and cormier woods information and trail map here.

Categories: Massachusetts, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 7–10 miles, MA, Mendon MA