New Trails in Glocester!

It's one of the largest expansions in recent memory to the trail system of any Land Trust property in recent years, and as with the previously existing trails at the Glocester Land Trust's Sprague Farm preserve, all the new trails are robustly cleared and blazed, and thoughtfully laid out.

The star of the show, without doubt, is the new William S. Klutz trail, blazed red. It starts conveniently from the gravel parking area near the end of the paved section of Joe Sweet Road; the parking area has been there for some years, but until recently serviced no trails.  Now, you can park and head in on a wonderfully well-made and well-groomed trail, the gateway to a wide variety of trails new and old.

The first section follows an old cart path along the side of a ridge before descending to an old homestead and cellar hole, which features one of the tallest and most striking ruined chimneys I've ever seen. You can trace the back of the flue as it rises from the original hearth, and the top -- which would have been above the roofline -- is largely intact. To your left, a blue-blazed "Chimney Trail" connects back to Joe Sweet Road. Continuing, you'll come to the second of two intersections with the green-blazed Striped Maple trail, which connects with the original Sprague Farm Loop. Further on, the trail heads up over the first of several rocky ridges; a glance at the ground will show you the hard work that went into this section of the trail, where numerous small trees had to be trimmed down to ground level. A short while later, you'll see the Stone Wall Trail on your right, which also connects to the loop trail.  Ahead on your left, yet another new path, the Lobohawk Trail, also connects back to Joe Sweet Road. Continue on, though, and you'll finally come out on the Haystack Hill trail, blazed yellow; to your right, it will take you back to the loop trail and the rest of the Sprague system, while if you turn left you'll head back to an intersection with the unpaved part of Joe Sweet Road, passing Mr. Sweet's original farmstead on your right.

It's easily my favorite new trail in Rhode Island! -- or will be, until I discover the next one.

Crawley Preserve

It's a modest trail system, but a rewarding shorter hike -- it pairs well with Browning Woods Farm -- passing through a lovely forest of mostly hardwoods, including oak, beech and hickory. There are, alas, the inevitable bare patches of dead trees from the 2016-2018 gypsy moth infestation, but with them there comes a consolation of light, as the sun now penetrates into formerly shaded areas, making a home for new understory species. There's plenty of up and down, too, to get the blood flowing on a chilly fall or spring day.

The trailhead is located on Glen Rock Road; approaching from the south, one passes by the venerable Kenyon's Grist Mill, which has been steadily grinding flour since 1696 (the present building dates to 1886) -- if it's open, you owe yourself a visit to pick up some of their fabulous stone-ground flour). The road winds steeply up, and you'll want to keep an eye out to locate the parking area on your left. There's room for around six or seven cars, and a clearly-marked trailhead with kiosk will guide you onto any of the three blazed trails. I recommend you start on the Crawley trail, blazed blue, which takes you directly up to the ridge-top, where you can glimpse some fine views of the valley and the Glen Rock Reservoir when the leaf cover isn't too dense.

Along the Crawley Trail

After the climb, you'll come to an intersection with the Red Fox trail (red); take a left, and ascend a bit further through a more open area. A short while later, you'll come upon the Box Turtle Trail (yellow) where another left will take you along the perimeter of the preserve, close by a working farm (watch your step, as there's an electric fence along one side); due to tree loss, the blazes are intermittent but the path is fairly easy to follow. Returning to red, you'll soon reach the far corner of protected land, and can head back on the Crawley Trail -- but be sure to take the yellow-blazed Brook Trail that soon spurs off to the left. On it, you'll cross an unnamed brook twice on well-made bridges, and emerge to find yourself once more at the parking area.

As you drive home, remember to thank the Crawley family, whose generosity made this preserve possible -- along with the South Kingstown Land Trust, the Richmond Rural Preservation Land Trust, and the Nature Conservancy, all of whose efforts contributed to creating this small gem of a woodland trail system.