High Rock Preserve/Scott Brook

Although I've written about the best-known preserves of the Cumberland Land Trust -- Mercy Woods, the Monastery, and Blackall/Ballou -- visits to the the smaller and lesser-known of their trails continue to reveal hidden gems. Most recently, I made a point of hiking the High Rock and Scott Brook preserves, which like Blackall and Ballou are two distinct properties that share an interconnected trail system.

It's a remarkable one, with many features that are unique to Land Trust trails in the state. The most prominent of these, an enormous wire corn-crib in the midst of the woods, is testimony to the fact that, as recently as three decades ago, much of this area was still an active farm. A plaque on the crib notes that this was part of the Gingras Pig Farm, home to 300 pigs, as recently as the 1980's. The cart paths which, here as in so many LT lands, form the basis of part of the trail system, were clearly in use more recently than most; they're still level, smooth, and just grassed over with little undergrowth. It makes for a bucolic stroll through the dense woods and marshes on either side of the nearby power lines.

It took the combined forces of the Blackstone River Watershed Council, Cumberland Land Trust, and the town's Conservation Commission to make all this possible; the barn and a number of ruined fixtures, including a silo and extensive pig pens, still stood on the property. The resulting area, mostly forested but including several old fields and meadows, is one of the most rewarding smaller preserves in the state, with a wide variety of terrain and habitats.

I stared my journey at the small trailhead at the southern end of the preserve on Scott Road, where the Bluebird Trail -- blazed blue of course -- begins. Almost immediately, you drop down via a well-built wooden stairway, dipping into the lush forest before climbing out again a moment later on the first of several sections which run along the power-line cut-through.

Along your left, you can see one of the many marshy areas, dotted with dead trees, suggesting that these are wetlands of a more recent vintage, and owe their existence to human intervention in the landscape. A little past that, after another dip into the woods, you'll come to a broader meadow, dotted with birdhouses, which will surely be a delight for bird-watchers of every feather. 

One last turn into the woods on the right then takes you to the junction with the Tucker Field Trail, blazed red. Tucker takes you back to the cut-through and over to the other side, going quite closely along the edge of one of the marshes, before crossing back over the water on a well-made footbridge. The trail continues roughly on a northwest line, past a shortcut trail blazed yellow (though it's red on the trail map). You then come to a junction with the Scott Brook Trail, blazed white; you can continue on red up to  Tucker field, or turn right and make a loop of it via the white trail. A short ways on, a shorter green trail crosses the path; I haven't tried it yet, but it looks enticing and will surely add variety to my next visit. White eventually arrives at its own trailhead; from here you can pick up red again, which shortly returns you to the familiar landmark of the corn crib. It's a modest trail system, but filled with lush scenery and unexpected twists and turns; the paths are thoughtfully laid out, and except for a few grassy areas where there are no blazes, well-marked. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something a little off the beaten path -- you won't be disappointed!

The DuVal Trail

It's easily one of the most beautiful, well-designed and well-maintained trails in Rhode Island  -- and around this time of year, it's truly spectacular. No other trail I know boasts such an abundance of mountain laurel, and when I walked the trail this past Sunday, the blooms were just beginning to open. Within the next few days, they will emerge fully, and the trail will be hedged and overhung with delightful blossoms of white, pink, and red.

The DuVal trail system, though administered today by the South Kingstown Land Trust, has a history that far predates the land trust legislation. It goes back to 1983, when Helena-Hope Gammell, donated the first four acres; she later became a founding member of the SKLT. Her initial gift has now grown to 167 acres, along with 74 adjoining acres managed by the DEM. The area in full is known as "Susanna's Woods" after Ms. Gammell's niece Susanna Klebovitz, and features a rich example of the sandy, acidic soil and mixed oak and pine forests so characteristic of southeastern Rhode Island. Happily, the area was spared much of the infestation of gyspy moths a few years back, and the oaks still stand tall and proud as far as the eye can see.

Entry to the trail system is from a parking area in Post Road near the site of the old Quaker Meeting House, established in the late seventeenth century; George Fox himself was said to have spoken there in 1672. The meeting house itself is long gone, though the adjacent cemetery can still be seen; from the parking area, you'll walk about 500 feet west along the road to the trailhead. There, a stone memorial recalls Susan B. DuVal, whose bequest enabled the trail system to be established.  

From the trailhead, follow the blue blazes of the DuVal trail; if time is short or a more leisurely walk is desired, two loop trails -- the yellow "Lynn's Loop" and the red "Polly's Loop" -- branch off to your left a short distance later. The DuVal, though, is the star of the system, following the ridge line up and down for nearly three miles. At the 0.7-mile mark, it jogs across Gravelly Hill Road; a short while later, at the peak of the highest ridge, a viewpoint offers a glimpse of the distant blue waters of Narragansett Bay. From there, up and down you'll go, with the trail's sandy soil and carefully terraced log steps making your way an easy one. Mountain laurel abounds on every side, though for some unknown reason the most showy bright-pink blossoms always seem to bloom some distance from the trail.

Eventually, you'll wind your way down to the trail's end, at the intersection of three roads: Sand Pine Trail, L'Ahinch Road, and Red House Road. One can make a sort of loop by following the unmaintained part of Red House Road to the south, and cutting back to the DuVal trail on a brief shortcut, though since this passes through private land, it's not recommended. Better to return as you came, rich with the realization that a trail taken in its other direction is, in many ways, a whole new one. On your return, as you refresh yourself with some cool water, take a moment and have a look at the old cemetery: it's an object lesson in the transience of human life, here amidst the greater continuity of nature itself, which will ever claim and reclaim the soil from which it springs. However long the span of our lives, we are really only visitors in this vastness; for anyone in need of a little life perspective, I can recommend no better remedy than a hike along the twists and turns of the DuVal trail.