Bay Circuit Trail: Terra Incognita Part 1. Easton MA.

Hockomock Swamp.

The southern stretch of the Bay Circuit Trail between Sharon and the coast may well be the most mysterious and an acquaintance who is far more familiar with the trail system than I describes it as "terra incognita"

I'll use the directional flow indicated by the Bay Circuit Alliance and begin with Easton. Sharon has an array of quality on line resources to alert the interested to its participation.   

Borderland State Park is an outstanding place to start. A walk along the Bay Circuit Trail from its northern entry point to its exit point in Easton is a striking encounter with transition.

Borderland State Park Easton Section.

In addition to crossing such legal jurisdictional boundaries as town and county lines, you are also walking a geology cross section. You begin at the near back side of a moraine edge with all the stark and evocative remains of fast glacial melt, exposed ledge, substantial and long boulder trains and an overall landscape little changed since the glacier left beyond a wonderful adornment of mixed forest and wetland.

Bay Circuit Trail: Duxbury, Thanksgiving Heartland.

 Bay Farm.

My piece on Duxbury last year was seen from afar. I mainly wanted to gather what I could on the place as a form of aggregation content so people would have a handy overview of it.


This year, I was able to actually visit and make video clips of all the open space parcels currently carrying the Bay Circuit Trail. 

If you live in the area and find yourself wanting to walk off the effects of our national feast day, you would do well to roam the wondrous array awaiting you.

It is the benchmark town for best practices in trail operations in its region, a very good model. There is fairly complete online information about the conservation properties, nice maps that blend art with craft and first rate follow through on the ground operations. 

Rules are enforced regarding motorized things, often by design at trailhead points and yet the rules are congenial and thought through. Dog owners are required to have the dog under control without specifics on how this control is attained. This affixes liability on the owner with minimal specifics.