Canton - Roaring Brook Nature Center

Date Hiked:  Monday, September 24, 2012
Number in Group: 5
Estimated distance round-trip: 3.5 miles (didn't seem that long to me)
Weather:  Beautiful, crisp, fall-like day, 67°F
Resources: Roaring Brook Nature Center, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: Streams, old quarry, Jerry & Blueberry

When the boys were little, we were at Roaring Brook Nature Center (RBNC) quite often.  The boys took weekly classes, we attended the Hobgoblin Fair, and we brought Pop-Pop to wander the trails with us.  However, in all the times we visited, we never ventured much beyond the red-blazed Werner Pond Trail.  It always just seemed like the perfect length for those little legs.

Now that the boys are older, and their legs longer than mine, I hadn't thought of the RBNC trails as offering much of a hike.  I was wrong.   As I tried to find a hike for our homeschool group to do this week, something made me look at the RBNC trail map.  That was when I noticed the trails on the other side of Bahre Corner Road.  There are around three miles of trails over there, making it just right.

Stream leading to Werner Pond.

We started on the Werner Pond Trail, going clockwise from the Nature Center.  We stopped to take a look at the stream and the pond, but before long we were passing over the dam.  After the dam, we turned left onto the start of Quarry Trail and crossed Bahre Corner Road.

Looking back at trail going over dam.

We walked along the very picturesque Jim Brook.  How could I have not known about this section of RBNC's trails?  The rock outcroppings over the brook, while not huge, were impressive none-the-less.  Though not quite a chasm, the rocks were high enough above the stream to make it interesting.  The water flow is quite low now, but in the spring, this would be a great place to visit.

Rock outcroppings along Jim Brook.

The Quarry Trail leaves the brook and climbs a bit to an old quarry.  In my mind, quarries are those giant holes in the ground that become the dangerous swimming spots you see in movies.  This is not the case here.  The quarry was an area of vertical rock faces in the middle of the woods.

Quarry.

As we climbed from the Quarry Trail to the Orchard Trail and finally the Plantation Trail, we passed through and along several fields.  All the trails were well maintained and recently mowed.

Field on the Orchard Trail.

As yet, unidentified insect.

Impressively large oak tree.

American (or Crusader) Carrion Beetle (Necrophila americana)

At the end of the hike, we stopped for awhile in an area to the right of the main building that had information on geology.  They have some large rocks that are labeled and arranged according to whether they are sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic.  The kids were most taken with playing and petting Jerry, a young Tom Turkey.  He also had a friend, a Bluebird named Blueberry, that stopped by for a visit.

Jerry the young turkey.

Jerry's friend, Blueberry.

I was unexpectedly pleased with this hike.  I had no idea that Roaring Brook offered such a variety of hiking options.  It is not just for little kids.