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Hike of Sibley Farm &
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Prior to the real estate market collapse of 2008, Sibley Farm was slated to become a shopping center and 300-unit condominium development.
Instead, it is now protected as beautiful conservation land with a diverse network of trails. The nine of us had lots of fun exploring
it along with Mass Audubon's adjoining Burncoat Pond Wildlife Sanctuary.
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Rose, Degen, and Laura lead the way as we head from the joint Sibley Farm/Burncoat Pond Wildlife Sanctuary trailhead down toward the Flat Rock overlook at Burncoat Pond's north cove. |
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Ben enjoys the view from atop Flat Rock.
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Leaving Burncoat Pond, we retrace our steps back toward Sibley Farm, where Rose makes friends with one of many red salamanders we spotted along the trail. |
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Emerging from the woods, we follow the Midstate Trail on a gentle uphill climb through open fields of wildflower to
Sibley Farm's Burncoat Hill summit. |
We all loved the wildflowers. They were pretty tall, but we still had a nice view looking south across the top of the field.
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Laura touches a touch-me-not. We had fun getting surprised as the buds popped open! The field was also full of grasshoppers and quick-footed toads. We even spotted a snake. |
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Nora and Kathleen checking out their pictures.
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Swamp Trail or Sibley Trail... which way should we go now? We choose the Sibley Trail, and head toward the Otter Pond overlook. |
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The Otter Pond along the Sibley Trail was our last stop before heading back toward the trailhead via the Sibley and Midstate trails,
completing our excellent Saturday afternoon hike. |
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