The Harris Center is hosting a walking tour of the historic Heald Tract in Wilton to highlight the conservation property’s landmarks.
Dave Butler, volunteer trip leader for the Harris Center, will guide visitors on a three-mile trail walk this Saturday, Nov. 12.
“We’re going to be exploring an area that was farmed over many generations,” Butler said. “I’ve been studying the Heald Tract for many years and now I’m getting into its history.”
According to Butler, some locations on the hike will be farms dating back possibly as far as 1765. Bart Hunter, a land steward for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire’s Forests, says it is the oldest part of Wilton.
The tour will provide hikers a timeline of farms established in the 18th through 20th centuries, explaining the tools researchers can use to date various structures, including cellar holes from former houses.
“There’s a few impressive cellar holes out there and there’s a quarry where they’d get some of the stones, so we’ll be discussing that,” Butler said.
In addition to the historical landmarks, there’s a chance for beaver, porcupine and otter sightings.
Butler has previously led trail walks in Hancock, Francestown, Hillsborough and Fitzwilliam.
“It just became a trail leader earlier this year, so I’m taking people to all my favorite places,” he said. “And I’ve got a bunch more on my list to do.”
The Harris Center says the hike is mostly flat with one up-hill, calling it “moderately easy” on its website. The group will break for lunch on a scenic pond.
The hike begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, and will return by 2:30 p.m.
The Heald Tract trailhead is located on Russell Hill Road, about 1.3 miles south of Route 101 in Wilton, on the Temple side of the Route 31 junction.