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Tadpoles swim in a puddle on the trail. -
A pickerel frog rests by a muddy section of trail. -
Flowers bloom along the wood edge. -
The Mattabeseck Wildlife Corridor includes a wooded section that leads to trails under the power lines. -
A wide trail cuts through the woods off of Old New Ipswich Road in Rindge. -
Ashley Saari
Over the past few summers, I’ve pretty well exhausted the trails on town land in my hometown of Rindge. This summer, a new one was added for me to explore – the Mattabaseck Wildlife Corridor.
Once part of the property surrounding Rindge Stone and Gravel, the land has a stretch of existing trails that are wide, well-marked and well-maintained; a definite plus when you’re exploring a new place.
With a newly-constructed parking lot and trail kiosk, the trailhead, located right next to the Stone and Gravel entrance on Old New Ipswich Road, is easy to find.
After dedicating it this spring, it is clear that the Rindge Conservation Commission has done a lot of work on the trail entrance, which is freshly mulched, with an easy-to-traverse trail. The rest of the trail, while not quite as maintained, is also easy-to-moderate wood walk. While there are some slopes, they are not arduous.
The trail leads eventually to a walking path under the power lines. While the power lines don’t make for the best view, the trail is lined with wildflowers, and a few short side treks lead back through short wooded sections with a meadow view.
One of the ways the Conservation Commission secured the property was through grants from the state’s groundwater trust fund, in part because the property spans one of the town’s aquifers, and also has some high-grade wetlands.
The wetlands can lead to a couple of muddy spots – nothing that isn’t traversable during the current season. But there was definitely evidence of those wetlands and high-value vernal pools. In large puddles on the trail, I spotted Pickerel frogs, a common and widespread species in the state, and thousands of tadpoles, only big enough to have tiny tails and no discernable features. Hopefully the wetlands are similarly full, as these puddles aren’t likely to last the summer.
While I prefer a hike through the woods, the hike under the power lines is a nice walk to finish. While I explored just a mile and a half of trail, there is an alternate route I have yet to explore in the wooded half of the hike, and several less well-traveled side trails currently under construction. The Mattabaseck Wildlife Corridor will be a route I return to for further exploration.