Hiking at Kingswood

-Cheryl Winship

Hiking at Kingswood

-Cheryl Winship

Hathaway Pond is the center of our trail system. Circling outward from there we have the red, white, yellow and blue trails. They are concentric “circularish” routes, all of which can be started from the pond edge. All of the trails have water that crosses and sometimes pools in the trails as it makes its way down to the pond. Wearing muck boots allows you to walk wherever you want, even avoiding the raised walk ways if you’d rather. The next best shoe choice is an old pair of sneakers that can be rinsed out at the pond and hung out to dry. Perhaps you will discard them at week’s end.  

Hiking at Kingswood is full of adventure and discovery.  I have walked these woods a lot, monitoring logging, looking for invasive species, watching regeneration and searching for berries.  Here are a few of my favorite discoveries while wandering on the trails, or sometimes slightly off the trails.

While walking the steep and rocky boundary line trail headed toward the observation deck, posting boundary line signs, I encountered a large ground nest full of turkey eggs.

Walking off trail between the boundary line trail above T&T and the back of the T&T beaver pond, my kids and I encountered a metal rod in a tree. I had never encountered a metal object stuck in a tree 6 feet off the ground. Our guess was that it was from the time of the old school house foundation by Hathaway pond. An old road runs uphill through the property from there all the way past T&T and off the property. The metal rod in the tree was located not far off the old road. Could someone have inserted the metal as a place to hang a lantern?  Was it part of a logging endeavor? Did it once hold a cable? I don’t think we’ll ever know. The property has had hundreds of years of human habitation. Looking in the forests you can see evidence of old stone walls, wide branching trees that once stood in open fields, known as lone wolf trees, and foundations. 

While hiking I love looking at any small creatures moving about. Discovering a millipede along the pink observation deck trail was a thrill. I find them to be most amazing. 

Winter hiking is magnificent as the tracks tell you about creatures you would never otherwise see. One such occurrence was discovering bobcat tracks going the length of many downed tree trucks above the lean-to.

Another amazing sighting was watching an otter slide down the hill past the playground and cross the red trail headed for Hathaway Pond.

Enjoy the trails, watch for evidence of human history as well as natural history. Sit down for a bit or lean against a tree for a while, let the forest resume its rhythm. See if something amazing reveals itself: a coyote, hawk, weasel, wood pecker, beaver, ermine, bear, owl, or mink may bless you with their presence. 

Click here to learn about our trails.