Indian Lands

Indian Lands

Dennis, Ma.

October 4, 2009

The cloudy start to the day was suppose to turn to blue skies by 1 o’clock in the afterrnoon. Believing the forecast,  I got into the truck and drove down to Dennis to a spot I’ve wanted to explore.

The Indian Lands trails combine to make a 1.3 mile loop that begins tin the far right corner of the Dennis Town Hall parking lot.

The trail from the parking lot begins wide and sandy and follows a small row of power lines to the actual trailhead with is about a five minute walk.

The sign at the trailhead indicates that the trails in the Indian Lands are dedicated to Dr. Norton Nickerson, a benefactor of the area.  The arrows point to the left for the Lady Slipper Trail and to the right for the Nickerson Point Trail. The actual trail forks just beyond the sign.

Not far down the Lady Slipper Trail the marsh views begin to open up.

Where the Lady Slipper Trail meets Bass River,  there is a bench.  As I appraoched the bench a Great Blue Herron burst from the marsh below and made his long takeoff run away from me.

The trail meandered along the marsh edge for a short while before turning back into the woods.

While the trail is never far from the river or marsh, there are small sections that allow for the feelings of a more wooded walk.  Meeting up with the river again I came to this view across an arm of the river looking  toward a bench.

It looked like a good place to stop for a snack,   but before I got there I found this resting tree.

The Lady Slipper Trail loops back on itself near the first bench I had come across and returns to the trailhead where it meets with the Nickerson Point Trail.  The trail works its way around this marshy inlet.

The Nickerson Point Trail is similar to the Lady Slipper,  a mixture of woods, marsh and river views.  Along the trails there was plenty of Goldenrod and Astor.

There are a few short side trails,  mostly to marsh and river views.  I took one that opened up into what looked a first that it might have been used as a campsite.

Camping is not allowed in the Indian Lands,  however the sleeping bag I found down by the edge of the marsh would seem to indicate that someone had spent a night.

This plank bridge across a small stream was the only bridge of any kind along the entire hike.

I wandered across this stand of pine trees.  One of the trees appears to be losing its grip. Something seems to have been eating away at the lower part of the truck.  There isn’t much holding it up, raising the question, “If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear?”

The Nickerson Point Trail brought me to the other side of the tributray of the river across which I had earlier seen the beach. This time I pointed the camera back across the water to where I had taken the first picture. The bench is in memory of Dr. Norton Nickerson.

The Nickerson Point Trail ends when it reaches the single power line that runs along a railroad track all the way back to the parking lot.

When I began my walk it was 63 degrees with only small patches of blue sky.  The Lady SlipperTrail loop took about 35 minites as did the Nickerson Point Trail.  Combined,  with a short break I spent a very nice hour and 20 minutes wandering the Indian Lands.

In many places across the river there are houses and the highway sounds from nearby roads can be heard at times.  During my walk I ran into a half dozen others, including two fishermen happy with the sunshine and set on catching dinner. When I reached my truck it was clear and 68 degrees, very pleasant weather and only two ticks.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at 7:11 pm and is filed under Cape Cod Hiking, Hiking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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