Where are Good Places to Visit During the CNC?

Many of us naturalists tend to visit the same places over and over again; they are convenient to your home, or you know the parking isn’t too muddy in spring, or there are beautiful views (or maybe a good ice cream shop nearby!). We hope that the Western Mass CNC will encourage you to visit some new places and, with luck, observe some species you’ve never seen before.

There are so many conservation areas in western Massachusetts that we cannot list them all here, but we have mentioned some of the best and included links to lists and maps of other areas. Looking at iNaturalist data can tell you where you might find particular species you’d like to see. MassMapper, MassGIS’s interactive map, can show you all of the protected open spaces near you, along with an incredible variety of other digital data. In addition, we recommend the free app Gaia, which shows digital trail maps embedded in the overall landscape of roads and waterbodies.

Federal Lands

• Appalachian Trail: Most of the trail corridor in Massachusetts is owned by the National Park Service. If you walk the entire trail during the CNC and post observations along the way, you will earn our utmost respect! If you’d like a shorter hike, take a look at these eight suggested segments, described on the Appalachian Mountain Club blog.
• Army Corps of Engineers: Knightville Dam and Littleville Lake, both in Huntington, are ACOE flood control areas, open to the public.
• Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge: The Conte Refuge includes properties throughout the entire Connecticut River watershed, but in western Massachusetts, we recommend the universally accessible Fort River Trail in Hadley.

State Lands – Dept. of Conservation and Recreation
A list of all DCR properties in western Massachusetts can be found here.

• Connecticut River Greenway State Park. This series of parks and trails provides many ways to access the Connecticut River, from Northfield to Chicopee.
• Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) State Forest. While the popular campground here won’t be open during the CNC, the trails along the Upper and Lower Highland Lakes and through the forest are well worth a trip. Don’t miss the view from the fire tower.
• Mt. Greylock State Reservation. Mt. Greylock is the highest peak in the state and home to many unusual species. While the automobile roads to the top will still be closed in late April and early May, we’re hoping some hearty naturalists will attempt the hike and observe species rarely found in Massachusetts.
• Mt. Tom State Reservation, Skinner State Park, and Mount Holyoke Range State Park. These basalt ridges withstood the waters of Glacial Lake Hitchcock and today stand proud of the surrounding residential and agricultural areas. The rich mineral composition of the basalt supports many unusual and rare plants.
• October Mountain State Forest. Explore the trails of this 16,500-acre property, the largest state forest in the state. While ORVs are permitted on some trails, other trails are for hikers only.
• Quabbin Reservoir. Much of the extensive Quabbin watershed is included in the Western Mass CNC, from Gate 47 in Ware, west to Quabbin Park off Rt. 9, and north along the western and northern shores to Gate 35 in New Salem. You could spend all four days of the CNC in the Quabbin and see something new every day. An interactive digital map of trails and gates is available here. Note that dogs are not allowed.

State Lands – MassWildlife
See an interactive map of all MassWildlife properties here.

• East Mountain WMA, Holyoke, Westfield, and West Springfield. The East Mountain basalt ridge is the southward extension of Mt. Tom and supports many of the same unusual flora and fauna.
• Eugene Moran WMA, Windsor. Extensive fields and wetlands here support grassland birds and wildflowers, plus a walk to the top of Windsor Hill east of Rt. 8A brings you to an exceptional view.
• Fox Den WMA, Chester, Middlefield, and Worthington. This almost 5,000-acre property includes frontage along the Middle Branch of the Westfield River, plus extensive northern hardwood forests.
• Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown and Ware. Fields, woodlands, and barrens along the Swift River make this diverse property easy to explore different habitats.
• Jug End State Reservation and WMA, Egremont. Jointly managed with the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, this large property includes fields at the lower elevations and the Appalachian Trail along the top of the ridge.
• Montague Plains WMA, Montague. This carefully managed example of a globally uncommon Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak natural community is always worth a visit for its unusual vegetation and the animals dependent on those plants. You might be lucky on an evening visit to hear Eastern Whip-poor-wills, a state-listed rare bird in Massachusetts.

Land Trusts

• Berkshire Natural Resources Council. You could spend an entire year (or more!) exploring all of BNRC’s properties, but if you only have the four days of the CNC, try the Hoosac Range trail in North Adams and Florida, The Boulders in Dalton/Lanesborough/Pittsfield, or Bob’s Way in Monterey and Sandisfield.
• Kestrel Land Trust. Kestrel’s properties are all in the Western Mass CNC region. We recommend the extensive Paul C. Jones Working Forest in Leverett and Shutesbury (jointly protected with MassWildlife), the MacLeish Field Station in Whately (jointly owned with Smith College), and the Jabish Brook Conservation Area in Belchertown (jointly protected with the Town of Belchertown).
• Massachusetts Audubon Society. You can’t go wrong exploring any of Mass Audubon’s properties in western Massachusetts, but we’ll single out Arcadia Sanctuary and Canoe Meadows for their locations in actual cities, and we can’t leave out High Ledges in Shelburne, if only because everyone should see that view.
• Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. Mt. Grace has been very supportive of the Western Mass CNC, offering several trips and workshops (see our journal post of April 14th for a list of those events). Check their interactive digital map for all of their properties, but in addition to the planned field trips, we can recommend the Erving Town Forest, the Fiske Pond Conservation Area in Wendell, and the Gifford Family Memorial Forest in Orange for productive hikes during the CNC.
• The Trustees of Reservations. As the oldest land trust in the country, the Trustees have some exceptional properties, all well worth visiting. For the CNC, we recommend Bart’s Cobble in Sheffield, Bear Swamp and Chapel Brook in Ashfield, Chesterfield Gorge in Chesterfield, Field Farm in Williamstown, Monument Mountain in Great Barrington, and Notchview in Windsor.

Municipalities
Since this is the City Nature Challenge, we will concentrate here on the natural areas in the cities of western Mass, but many towns also have conservation areas and trails; check a town’s website under the Conservation Commission or the Parks Department to find such area.

• Agawam. Ridgeview Park, between N. West St. and N. Westfield St., offers woods and small streams, crossed by a powerline.
• Amherst. Amherst has an extensive system of conservation areas and trails; see more information here, with a map here. We can recommend Lawrence Swamp and the Sweet Alice Conservation Area.
• Chicopee. Nash Park on Call Street offers access to the flood control dikes along the Connecticut River. The mostly wooded Preston Park off Access Road may provide access to the Chicopee River down a very steep bank.
• East Longmeadow. Between Kibbe Road and Fernwood Drive are the adjoining Craven, Hoover Quarry, Campbell, and Watchaug Meadows Conservation Areas. These wooded properties include wetlands and a powerline running north-south.
• Easthampton. The Manhan Rail Trail provides easy walking through many different habitats and connects to trails in neighboring cities and towns. Nonotuck Park, near the center of the city, has many trails, including some along Nashawannuck Pond.
• Greenfield. The Green River Swimming and Recreation Area has trails through a rich, mesic woods and along the Green River. The ridge between the Connecticut River and downtown Greenfield has wooded trails and a lovely view from Poets Seat Tower; see more details on Rocky Mountain Park and Temple Woods here.
• Holyoke. The Holyoke Water Works owns two reservoirs within the city limits: Ashley and Whiting St. Reservoirs. Both are open to the public for hiking (but note that no dogs are allowed) and offer easy walks along level maintenance roads adjacent to the reservoirs.
• North Adams. Historic Valley Campground on Windsor Lake has wooded trails and long frontage on the lake.
• Northampton. Trail maps for Northampton properties can be found here. The Broad Brook-Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, just to pick one among several great options, has a variety of habitats and includes a wheelchair-accessible trail to a dock on the lake.
• Palmer. Check the list of parks with trails maps towards the bottom of this page. Burleigh Park is mostly wooded but has a shrubby powerline through and three small wetlands.
• Pittsfield. Brattlebrook Farm and Park includes 178 acres of fields, woods, pond frontage, and extensive wetlands. The City’s website describes this site and several other natural areas.
• Springfield. Forest Park offers something for everyone in its 735 acres, including wooded trails and several small ponds and brooks. Remember, if you visit the zoo or the planted areas, mark your observations of captive or cultivated organisms as Not Wild in iNaturalist.
• West Springfield. Mittineague Park, along the Westfield River, has numerous wooded trails along its hillsides as well as access to the river.
• Westfield. Arm Brook offers a nice walk through woods along the brook.

Publicado el 17 de abril de 2023 a las 01:27 PM por lynnharper