Numbers on the map match the descriptions below.
LPS preserves are open to the public for hiking, biking, walking, fishing and nature study. Please stay on the trails to spare delicate and rare plants like Lady’s Slippers and Spotted Wintergreen.
Website: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-environmental-police
24-hour dispatch :800-632-8075
Submit a complaint online : https://www.mass.gov/guides/filing-environmental-complaints
Important: Take only photos, leave only footprints.
Remember not to remove any plants or critters and
be sure to carry out your trash and dog waste.
We advise you to protect yourself from ticks and mosquitoes by using insect repellents and appropriate clothing. (Safe Walking in the Woods)
Some things take with you on your walk.
Checklist to take with you on the walk
Scavenger Hunt 1 - for young children
Scavenger Hunt 2
1. The Winthrop Dahl Nature Preserve, near 198 North Washington Street shortly after the I-495 bridge heading north, has one of the largest vernal pools in Norton, surrounded by a variety of trees, shrubs, and the remains of meadow or pasturelands. The proximity to the Mansfield Airport and a large amount of goldenrod attract birds that like open meadows. In Massachusetts open meadows are growing scarce as woodlands take over old farms and abandoned roads. LPS plans to keep the meadow open.
GIS Trail Map
Trail Gallery
PDF Map
Hand Drawn Map
2. The Johnson Woods and Henrich Woods are entered from North Washington Street (across from 107 N. Washington) at an old railroad crossing parking area. Signs for both preserves are there, and a path leads through the Johnson Woods, past a stone fence, and to a path to the left that leads through the Henrich Woods to the Rumford River. There are two vernal pools, a pine forest, high bush blueberries and many other plant and tree species. In spring please be careful of the toads that breed in the pools. There is another entrance directly off the old train railbed. Three trails are soon to be named in memory of the Rich Family of Norton.
GIS Trail Map
Trail Gallery
PDF Map
Hand Drawn Map
3. The Canoe River Lands Preserve is on Red Mill Road, a dirt road between 55 and 75 Newland St. Park on the dirt road at the gate. Proceed down the dirt road. Before the bridge, there is a path to the north through woodland and into an old quarry. From the bridge you can see a former millpond, now eutropified. On the right after the bridge, there is a path (careful-poison ivy) along the river. There is a variety of plants and trees. On the Easton side of the river, there is an esker, an elevated elongated ridge dropped by a glacial stream onto the landscape.
GIS Trail Map (Red Mill Road)
Trail Gallery
4. The Lanky Reinhard Pasture Land near 17 North Washington Street (a short way from Route 123) is an example of woods quickly reclaiming open land. A trail to the left of the sign meanders to the Canoe River. Mixed trees and shrubs, traces of a cart path, various birds, and a bridal path are found in a mix of wetland woods and upland.
GIS Trail Map
PDF Map
Trail Gallery
5. King Philip’s Cave is off Stone Run Drive, a short road across from 271 Plain Street. The “cave”, Norton’s geologic high spot, formed when huge boulders were dropped as the glacier melted. Here too are found varied flowers and mixed woods, including dogwood, blueberry, and evergreens. Remember that climbing the rocks can be dangerous. Please park along Plain Street and take the short walk up Stone Run Drive. There is limited handicap parking at the rotary up the hill on Stone Run Drive. The trail begins at the LPS sign and leads to the cave. There is a new trail that loops beyond the cave leading to other large rock formations.
GIS Trail Map
PDF Map
Trail Gallery
6. The Elwin Nason Family Nature Preserve is located between 22 and 28 S. Washington St. Parking is on the road so it is quite limited. We have a right-of-way through the field to the forest. This preserve is over forty acres. There are several trails marked trails that travel through forest and fields and pass by some wooded wetlands. It formerly extended back to the Canoe River but now borders Route 495.
GIS Trail Map
PDF Map
Trail Gallery
Elwin Nason made the original Nason land purchase.
7. The Blueberry Knoll Woodlands entrance is between 16 and 17 Stanley Road off South Washington Street in the Blueberry Knoll development. Parking is in front of the gate on the dirt road. The road leads through wet and dry woods, mixed trees, shrubs, mosses and other plants until it reaches a detention pond planted with native wetland plants. Old cart paths lead from the pond into surrounding woods (beyond LPS property.)
Hand Drawn Map
8. The Crane Farm Preserve is located on Crane St. between Old Taunton Ave and Pine St. There is a parking lot near the bridge over the Three Mile River. LPS plans to link the 150 acres of the Woodward Forest to this 45 acre preserve by developing old trails in the area. There is canoe and kayak access to the Three Mile River. The preserve includes habitat for wood turtles, extensive floodplain areas, sandy forested upland and existing equestrian trails.
GIS Trail Map
PDF Map
Trail Gallery
9. The Woodward Forest, our largest holding at 150 acres, is located between 4 and 5 Gateway Lane off Old Taunton Avenue. Several cars can park in the cul-de-sac. Enter at the steps beside the sign. There are mixed woods, a small meadow, a branch path leading along the Three-Mile River, a large vernal pool on the orange trail, smaller wetlands, an old cart path on the blue and white trail that passes hemlocks and pines, and a variety of wetland and upland plants. LPS continues to extend trails in this preserve, including a trail connecting with the Foster Refuge and one leading to a historic site. Lockety Neck is at the convergence of the Wading River and the Rumford River and is thought to be the site of one of the last fights in King Philip’s War around 1675.
GIS Trail Map
PDF Map
Trail Gallery
Hand Drawn Map
10. The L.A. Foster Wildlife Refuge is near 170 Taunton Avenue (Route 140) on both sides of the street at the bridge over the Wading River. Street parking is suggested. A sign is at the east entrance, a steep roadway leading to an old industrial site. The path leads into woodland with numerous birds, and sometimes borders the river. Across the street, the west path is across the river, it is an old haul road. The road ends at a small gravel quarry. The path continues beside the copper works pond and eventually along the dike that borders a canal that used to carry water from the Wading River to the pond. Low wetlands are found to the south along the Wading River.
PDF Map
Hand Drawn Map
11. The Valentine Family Preserve is a small parcel on Pleasant St. (across from Newbury St.) that extends through the woods to Crowe Farm Lane. Children in the past called the trail “The Indian Trail.” It is used by many in the neighborhood. The 11 acre preserve is wooded but with considerable wetlands on both sides of the trail.
12. Alice Clapp Smalley Wildlife Preserve is off Oak Street where it meets Walker Street near the Norton Country Club (located at188 Oak St.) Parking is streetside. The short path leads through beech and oak trees into red maple wetlands. this is a short path but the forest looks quite different from most in our preserves.
13.The Medeiros Preserve and Misty Meadows is on Richardson Avenue (near 100 and 101 Richardson Ave.) at the Attleboro line. The power line service roads lead through the preserve on the north side and beside it on the south. The Medeiros Preserve has more wetland, with orchids, lilies, many shrubs and pools with waterfowl nests. Misty Meadows is higher and drier. Over 100 species of birds have been documented along the roads. Many birds like the mix of open area adjacent to the woods.
Hand Drawn Map
For further information, please visit other sites on the website or contact us by email.: LPSofNorton@icloud.com