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| A new boardwalk at Corn Hill Woodland. |
Thanks to Hurricane
Irene (2011) and the brutal snowstorms of Winter 2013, many of our local
conservation properties sustained serious damage. There was a lot of clean up
work to do, and it took time. These Open Space Lands are often intentionally
remote, so imagine what it takes to clear scores of fallen trees or repair
boardwalks in areas where there is no vehicular access.
Corn Hill Woodland,
a 123-acre parcel located in North Marshfield, is one property that was hit
hard. In fact, after the winter storms, one of its boardwalks was actually
standing on end! Prior to the storms, the North and South Rivers Watershed
Association had identified Corn Hill as a property in need of rehabilitation,
and in 2012 they were given permission to begin work replacing boardwalks and
clearing trails. Unfortunately, some of the work had to be redone after the
storms. The project was completed earlier this year, thanks in part to Summit
Landscape and Mass Audubon, as well as a team of Americorps volunteers and the town of Marshfield.
I hadn’t been to
Corn Hill Woodland for years, but I headed back there this August, and I was
pleased to see well-marked trails, and new sections of boardwalk.
Corn Hill Woodland is
a great place for a long, peaceful walk. There are number of trails, mostly
through the forest. There are three loop trails, plus a spur that heads down to
the salt marsh, and three additional spurs that lead to roadside trail heads. Some
of the paths are quite narrow – especially if you go in the summer, when the
ferns are leafed out in their entirety . . . There are places where the ferns
are so lush that you can’t see the ground at all! The blazes posted just above
eye level on some of the trails are extremely helpful.
Unlike some of its
more popular neighbors – such as the Norris Reservation across the river -- Corn
Hill is quiet. The parking area is small, and the signage is even smaller –
just a wooden post at the roadside. Not many people know about it – or if they,
do it’s not their first choice as a walking destination.
My favorite section of
Corn Hill Woodland is quite a ways in – the loop closest to the North River.
Down there you will find several small boardwalks traversing wetlands. In the
warmer months, the combined effects of the salt marsh, the ferns, and the
leaves on the trees make Corn Hill feel like a sea of green. The view of the
river and the marshes is also quite lovely.
In autumn, the
beeches near the front section of the property are a feature worth observing.
They hold onto their leaves much longer than most of our other deciduous trees,
so by making a trip to Corn Hill in November, you might catch a late glimpse of
fall.
There are three
access points for Corn Hill Woodland. Two are on Corn Hill Lane, and the other
is on Union Street. If you consult the Conservation Properties Map (2002) on the
Town of Marshfield’s website, you will find a basic layout of Corn Hill’s trail
network, as well as the location of the parcel itself. It’s always a good idea
to bring a map along, just in case. By the time you read this, there may even
be a map posted there, in the on-site kiosk that the Wildlands Trust recently
provided.
by Kezia Bacon
September 2014
Kezia Bacon's articles
appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local
non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance
and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For
membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at
(781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 15 years of Nature (Human and
Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com
