Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary

Elite '09

77

153

Kara S.

Somerville, MA

6/1/2008 10 photos

Broodmoor is an amazing place for a hike.  Five dollars paid to the lovely lady working the welcome center gains you access to the maze of shady, sunlight dappled trails that crisscross the land.  My hiking book suggested a walk that leads you through three of the trails:  Indian Brook Trail, Glacial Hill Trail, and Blueberry Swamp Trail.   If those names alone don't make you want to go for a nice long walk here, there is something wrong with you.  

Indian Brook trail was probably the least exciting part of the walk, but it was good in that it got us used to the lay of the land.  They have a great system of marking the trails:  Blue dots on trees means you are heading away from the welcome center, yellow means you're heading back.

Glacial Hill trail was fantastic, leading you up a huge hill that was formed by the deposits of a glacier (hence the name).  It was a rugged, exciting walk, one that you'll miss out on if you don't realize you have to hop across a small stream by way of the rocks embedded in it.   And on the way back, we caught sight of one very bold frog and 8,000 squeaking, happy chipmunks.

Blueberry Swamp trail is where things got a little hairy.    See, my mom (my hiking buddy for the day) was seduced by the name of one other trail:  quacking frog trail.  She couldn't leave without experiencing the quacking frogs.  So we went that way, but since it wasn't on my book map and since the map they hand out at the welcome center is kind of hard to follow, we got VERY turned around.  It worked out in the end, because it brought us past the beaver dam that was cited in my guidebook and to my favorite place in the sanctuary.  Between markers 3 and 5 (we're not sure where exactly, since the map really IS hard to decipher) there is the most fantastic platform rest stop, just a little slice of heaven on earth.  I want to go back and bring a book and just sit out and read for hours and hours.  That's an idea I got from the many sanctuary patrons who we passed who came for the quiet, rather than for a walk.

This reserve really has it all:  Interesting wildlife, good long trails for exercise, quiet corners to sit in, waterfalls, dams, remnants of a native american mill, and a field bordered by the most pungent, delicious honeysuckle I have ever smelled.  They even have a trail called the 'all persons trail', which is wheelchair accessible.  How effing amazing is that?  They also do some really cool kids programs which I want to go back to with my niece.  Ice cream and bat detecting???  Sign us up!

The only downside (aside from the map being hard to follow) is that there were some very aggressive dragonflies there.   Be sure to slather on the bug repellent or you will be hurting the next day.

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