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.