Bourne Farm

Bourne Farm and Wing Pond Conservation Areas

West Falmouth, Ma.

October 8, 2009

Fall was in the air as I stepped out to walk the trails around the Bourne Farm and Wing Pond Conservation Areas maintained by the Salt Pond Areas Bird Sanctuaries off of Route 28A in West Falmouth.

The temperature was in the low 60′s with a slight breeze.  A few cumulus fair weather clouds drifted past.  I parked in the lot at the front of the farm. Before heading back to the trails,  I walked over to the old barn behind the farmhouse.  From there the property overlooks Crocker Pond.

A two-lane dirt track leads back behind the farm buildings toward the trailhead. There is a pumpkin patch along the way. In two days there will not be a pumpkin left as they plan a sale.

The dirt lane passes between a stone wall toward the trailhead.

The trail enters the woods here.

You travel just a short distance before coming to the Cattle Tunnel under the bike path.

The tunnel is only about 25 feet long, and was muddy inside on this day.

Once out of the Cattle Tunnel the trail crosses the Equestrian Trail and then forks in three directions. The Big Loop Trail is just that, a big loop of about a half mile.  I chose to walk it in a clockwise direction.

The other trails are the Middle Road Trail, which runs straight up the middle of the Big Loop, or the other end of the Big Loop Trail.

The Big Loop Trail like all the trails in the Bourne Farm Area is easy walking.  Going in a clockwise direction as I did there is some elevation where the Crossroads 3 Trail intersects with the Big Loop. Just enough of a climb to get the heart beating.

When I saw this pine tree I was a little surprised at its size compared to the other trees in the area. This looks like two trees,  but is actually one.

On the return side of the Big Loop Trail there is the remainder of a stonewall that is being reclaimed by the woods. A left over from the days when this was a working farm.

After completing the Big Loop Trail,  which took me about 20 minutes at an easy stride, I turned onto the Herring Run Trail in the direction of Wing Pond. I came across this ivy covered post in the woods.  As I walked around I found other smaller posts.

I don’t know what kind of a building stood here, but it was a building as I found the steps.

The land sloped away from the former building toward what appeared to be a still pool of water.

While this pool appeared to be still, it was actually flowing past toward a marsh to the west.

From the still looking pool, to the trickle down the rocks, the water flows into the marsh.

I continued on the trail eventually coming to the herring run.

Backtracking from the herring run, I took the Cranberry Bog Trail to the bogs near Wing Pond.

Water is pumped by this pumphouse out of Wing Pond to flood the bogs at harvest time.

Astors are still in flower,  but will be passing soon.

It’s still early, however, some fall colors have begun to show.

On a short trail between bogs I came across this rope swing.  From the high bank it looks like it would be quite a ride.

This pumphouse fills an adjacent bog.

In several spots along the trails of the Bourne Farm and Wing Pond Conservation Area there are stone benchs.  I sat here briefly for a snack.

There are also marked Equestrian Trails throughout the area.

After my 20 minute walk of the Big Loop Trail, the trip to the herring run took just 15 minutes.  Meandering around the trails in the area of the cranberry bogs accounted for the rest of my stroll. All together it was an hour and 20 minutes of quiet time not far off the beaten path, with few other people around.  I crossed paths with just four others.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 6:06 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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