That same road trip that took me to Lake Anna, VA also carried me to the vicinity of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts. Of course, I can’t pass up an opportunity to wander in the woods.

As you might expect from the name, there are wetlands here, although the trails did not go all the way to the Assabet River itself.


A rather complicated passage to get out on the fishing pier.

The trails were pretty easy fare, and adequately marked. There weren’t any blazes, but most of the intersections had some sort of signage.

Maybe it’s just the way they do things in this part of the world, this is the only example of trail sigh graffiti I’ve seen in my travels. For the record, I did not see any nude trails, they all had decent coverings of leaves.

This area used to be part of the US Army’s Natick Labs before 2000, and there are numerous old bunkers around.


One thing that is different in this part of the world from my home range is that the towns are all shoved up against each other. There’s no leaving one town and going 15 miles to get to the next one. This marker along the trails is where three towns come together.

This is the smallest area I hiked on this trip, but any time in the woods is worth it. Again, the weather was perfect, starting off chilly but warming up nicely in full sun. A nit to pick: I didn’t find a printable trail map online. I always carry a paper map (or two), just in case all the technology falls apart.

I thought sure that I’d see some snow on the ground in Massachusetts this time of year, but that was a disappointment. Another sign of climate change.

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/10918279753