2022 Summer & Fall Getting to Know Your Watershed Series

The Source: Hogback Headwaters Hike
3 pm on Saturday, August 27
Meet at the parking area across Route 9 from Vermont Distillers (7759 Route 9 East in Marlboro)
 
Join us at the high point of the Green River watershed, the Hogback Mountain Conservation Area in Marlboro. We will start with an overlook of the watershed at the "100 mile view" on Route 9, and then take a 2.5-mile hike to explore the highest elevation habitats. This coolest and wettest part of the watershed features northern hardwood forests, spruce-fir forests and wetlands. We will also see evidence of human history from the previous two centuries.
 
Optional afterward activity: Grab some pizza at nearby Pizza Palooza.
 

The Transition Zone
2 pm on Sunday, September 4
Meet at 1037 Deer Park Road in Halifax

Get to know your watershed neighbors at a gathering at the home of Mel Osborne and Mary Thome. We will then explore some interesting habitats in the border zone between the Headwaters and the Steep Lands. Highlights include the basin of a large, shallow pond that drained two years ago and the summit of a hill above the river that is treasured by wildlife. This is a landscape beloved by moose and bears.

The 2.5-mile round trip walk is along a wide trail that is damp in places, and on gently rolling terrain, except for the final moderate ascent to the 1,840' summit.

 
Joy Hayes' Farm
10 am on Saturday, September 17
Meet at 182 Hayes Road in Guilford
 
This rich site above the Hinesburg Brook showcases the Steep Lands portion of the watershed. We will begin at Joy Hayes' old farmstead and head out along old woods roads to visit unusual wetlands and steep wet ledges where rich site flora proliferate. We will also visit the stones that mark the sites of murders that took place early in the last century.

This hike will be through damp terrain, so wear waterproof boots or shoes that you don't mind getting wet. For the adventurous, there will also be a scrambling option to get up to some exceptional rocky sites. Some of this walk will be off trail.

Enjoy post-outing refreshments on the lawn of Joy's picturesque old farmhouse.
 

Governors Mountain
1 pm on Saturday, September 24
Meet at Sunrise Farm, 102 Thomas Road in Guilford
 
Governors Mountain is one of the most distinctive mountains in the watershed, with a beautiful summit ridge that features an open oak-hickory forest with a lawn of sedges. We will explore the southern and eastern faces of the mountain as we work our way to the top. These slopes host plants that thrive on warm, dry, rich soils.
 
This is an off-trail hike and is steep in places, so participants should be in good physical condition and comfortable walking off trail.

Enjoy refreshments on the lawn of Sunrise Farm after the hike.
 

The Southern Green River: A Driving Tour
Saturday, October 8 at 1 pm
Meet at Green River Meadows on River Road in Guilford (the entryway is 0.6 miles south of the Green River Covered Bridge).
 
Learn a bit about Green River Meadows, conserved in 2021 as a natural area that also provides public access to the Green River. From there we will drive down through the Steep Lands on River Road, stopping at various ledgy areas to admire the special flora of this part of the watershed. We will follow the river all the way to Greenfield, where it enters the Plains -- the wide, level basin of Glacial Lake Hitchcock. We will then head to Poet's Seat, a stone tower at Greenfield's high point that offers panoramic views of the southern portion of the watershed. This will provide the southern bookend to our watershed tour.

Optional afterward activity: Stop for an ice cream cone at Ice Cream Alley before driving back up the river.