Tag: Boardwalk

  • Saturday, November 21, 1:00 – 3:30 pm – Great Magnolia Swamp Hike

    Celebrate Ravenswood and get some exercise on this guided four mile long hike discovering swamp ecology in this rugged yet beautiful habitat.  You’ll get a closer look at Ravenswood’s geological features on Saturday, November 21, from 1 – 3:30 pm.  Sponsored by the Trustees of Reservations, free to members, $5.00 non-members. For more information and driving information email needucation@ttor.org.

    Ravenswood Park offers 600 acres for solitude and quiet contemplation of nature. Whether you prefer to surround yourself with snow-covered hemlocks, experience spring emerging in a burst of color and aroma, or escape the summer’s heat – you’ll find a refuge here. The park is a testament to one man’s conservationist philosophy, and to all those who have cared for this special place.

    With 10 miles of carriage paths and trails that meander through the park, you can find plenty of room to picnic, bird watch, walk, cross-country ski, and simply appreciate the outdoors. Children love the Ledge Hill Trail – a 2-mile round-trip walk among magical-looking, fern-covered boulders. You don’t want to miss trekking to the overlook to Gloucester Harbor or traversing the boardwalk through the Great Magnolia Swamp, home to native sweetbay magnolias (Magnolia virginiana).

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  • Saturday, October 17, 10 am – 1:30 pm – Fall in the Bog

    A thick, floating mass of sphagnum moss, oxygen-poor water, and plants adapted to very low nutrient conditions characterize quaking bogs. The Philbrick-Cricenti Quaking Bog, one of the best examples of these unique peatlands, offers a chance to explore a trail about a mile in length, while staying high and dry atop a boardwalk. A host of bog plants are to be discovered as you transition from a red maple-sphagnum swamp, through a black spruce-larch swamp, to the Tundra Garden Loop where you find vegetation similar to that in more northern areas where boreal forest meets the open Arctic tundra. The walk will be led by Roland “Boot” Boutwell, and is sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society. Bring a bag lunch, water, and a hand lens if you have one.  Cost for NEWFS members is $28, $32 for nonmembers.  Limit 10 participants.  To register, and for directions, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

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